‘I'll Never Fight There Again' Disgruntled UFC Fighter Slams Mexico
The UFC probably shouldn't book Joe Pyfer to fight at Noche UFC in September. Pyfer was scheduled to face Kelvin Gastelum on Saturday in Mexico City, but he became ill the night before the fight and couldn't compete.
Based on what Pyfer described, he either got food poisoning or altitude sickness. In any case, he wasn't happy about missing his fight. The 28-year-old from Vineland, New Jersey, took to social media and threw a prejudiced tantrum aimed at the entire country of Mexico.
Red Corner MMA shared Pyfer's post.
To include the sentence, 'I don't care if it's offensive to you,' is unfortunate.
'I'll never go back to that country. F*** that country, I'll never fight again,' only added to the toxicity.
The fight between Pyfer and Gastelum is expected to be rescheduled soon, but I was being facetious even mentioning Noche UFC, which was announced and is scheduled for September 13 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Gastelum is Mexican, so it stands to reason he was set to be the fan favorite in the fight against Pyfer. After Pyfer's comments, it's safe to assume just about anyone the American middleweight fights would have the support of Mexican MMA fans.
Undefeated former UFC flyweight Muhammad Mokaev took Pyfer to task for his comments. He said: 'TBF every country is challenge and you gotta go out there and adapt. It's your own risk when you sign the contract but if you signed the stfu.'
Pyfer has earned the nickname 'Salty Joe,' and fans didn't hold back with their references to the nickname and criticisms for the fighter's comments.
One commenter wrote: 'Just let Salty Joe do what he's best at, being salty.'
A second commenter wrote: 'Facts! Pyfer is racist and full of excuses.'
A third commenter wrote: 'How can anyone be a fan of this guy?'
A fourth commenter wrote: 'So unlikable.'
I don't expect Pyfer to face any punishment for his rant. The UFC has allowed its fighters to exercise freedom of speech without consequence from the promotion. Bryce Mitchell spewed a wildly anti-Semitic concept on his podcast earlier this year, and Conor McGregor has repeatedly made negative comments about Dagestani people.
While many of us are fans of free speech, it seems safe to say there's a way to abuse the privilege, and Pyfer has seemingly done that. Aside from Pyfer's insensitive rant, the UFC Mexico show was strong. We saw four performance bonuses and some strong fights.
In case you missed it, here is a look at all of the results.
The Noche UFC 2025 announcement came during UFC Mexico. In case you missed it, here are the results.
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