Joe Pyfer didn’t end up fighting at UFC Mexico and perhaps it was for the better.
The middleweight competitor was forced to withdrawal from a matchup with Kelvin Gastelum this past March when he was overcome by illness in Mexico City. Pyfer and Gastelum have since been re-booked for UFC 316, which takes place next Saturday in Newark, N.J., but his unfortunate experience south of the border still stings.
“I couldn’t fight like that,” Pyfer said on The Ariel Helwani Show. “He would have slapped me and I would have shit myself. So yeah, the flight home sucked. Everything about that situation just sucked. It was like a nightmare, it really was.”
In the wake of the bout postponement, Pyfer didn’t mince words about how he felt about the conditions in Mexico City. He went on an offensive tirade on social media, blaming the entire country for his health problems.
“I don’t care if it’s offensive to you, I will never go back to that country,” Pyfer said. “I did everything right: I slept in a tent, I did all this work to still get sick. Some people are saying it wasn’t the food, that I got altitude sickness. I’m not a f*cking geographic f*cking elevation f*cking scientists, but I was told as long as I acclimated—which I did for two months, slept in a tent on the f*cking floor—I did everything I could to prepare. And if that’s what altitude and elevation is, f*ck that country.
“I will never fight there again. Shit hole. Not going back. Don’t care if that’s offensive to you. You’re not the one fighting, Suck my balls, literally.”
Pyfer and his team couldn’t pinpoint the exact origin of his illness, but he’s certain he won’t book a fight in Mexico again. Still, he attempted to explain that his words were more out of frustration than any animosity towards the event’s host country.
“I don’t have to go into specifics, but if the country was so great, we wouldn’t have so many problems,” Pyfer said. “At the end of the day, what I said was misconstrued. I said if that’s what fighting in that country is then at that place it’s a shit hole and then so on and so forth. I don’t understand why we would risk fighting there, the risk is so great. I got sick twice—I didn’t get sick once, I got sick twice—and I never said anything about it. ... DC went on and said, ‘Man, my stomach was messed up. I hate that place.’ Nobody gave him shit about it. I’m a little bit more unapologetic. It’s nothing towards the people, the people were fine, I have nothing to say bad about the people. It’s just as far as fighting there, fighting at that elevation, fighting at that altitude. Why would I risk that?
“Yeah, I’m salty. I don’t care how that makes other people feel because I’m the one that lost. Kelvin lost. We didn’t get to fight. I lost 25 grand going out there, I’m not a top 10 guy making crazy money yet, and an opportunity got taken away from me. Unfortunately, it’s nobody’s fault but mine and the fact that I traveled outside the country, which I said I wouldn’t do. I stand on what I say. I don’t like it as far as fighting there and I don’t have to retract that statement. I know it didn’t make people happy, but this is my career and I’m the one that got bent over at the end of the day and didn’t get to make any money or fight.”
Pyfer has since faced plenty of backlash online. He claims people sent him direct messages wishing him further ill, with some even sending death threats.
He looks forward to receiving a warmer reception in New Jersey when he finally gets to fight Gastelum and has a chance to put the ugly UFC Mexico City incident behind him.
“Now I’m OK, but honestly, the first three weeks after my stomach was still really messed up,” Pyfer said. “The worst I’ve ever been sick in my life. Between basically shitting water out of your ass to vomiting profusely for a couple of days and then having a fever on top of it. Trust me, if I could have fought, I would have, and I’ve never not fought. I fought Jack Hermansson after having pneumonia the whole camp and then I had two staph infections going in there and I still fought. So if I can fight, I will, and that was just not a situation I could fight.
“I wasn’t going to become a meme of ‘Poopy Pants Pyfer’ as they call me now.”
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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
The essential fight week schedule.
Live Combat Sport Schedule: 5/28 - 6/1
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Complete schedule w/ fight cards, PPV & free live streams HERE:
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ICYMI (who am I kidding, we were all watching the TUF premiere).
#TUF33 STARTS WITH A BANG
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Undisputed Champion, at last.
This is getting a little desperate, but keep shooting your shot!
I like this idea, and you guys? Im 100% in, im sure the champion too!!
— Jailton Almeida “Malhadinho” (@Malhadinho_UFC) May 28, 2025
Send the contract ️
Gosto dessa ideia, e vocês? Estou 100% dentro, e tenho certeza que o campeão tb estaria. Mandem o contrato ️ @danawhite @Mickmaynard2 @ufc @UFCBrasil
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Sorry for the wait. It’s not on me at this point. Patiently waiting https://t.co/rsIvmnwV56
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He back.
Respectfully, gotta be Brad Katona, right?
you’re offered $1M if you last 15 minutes in the octagon with a male ufc fighter of your choice. Who you stepping in against?
— Dovy (@DovySimuMMA) May 28, 2025
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Bolaji Oki (9-2) vs. Michael Aswell (10-2); UFC Vegas 107, May 31
Kevin Lee (20-8) vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov (25-4-1); PFL 5, June 20
FINAL THOUGHTS
Did Joe Pyfer really say anything wrong?
Oh wait, yes. Yes, he did. Perhaps this Joe fella needs to look up the meaning of the word “misconstrue.”
EXIT POLL
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