On The Overdogs Podcast, Joaquin Buckley posed a question to UFC middleweight Joe Pyfer and ‘King of Violence’ Mike Perry. ‘New Mansa’ asked them to weigh in on why there are currently no American UFC champions.
Note: [Currently, there are two American champions in the UFC: Kayla Harrison, the women’s bantamweight champion, and Justin Gaethje, who is the current and two-time interim lightweight champion].
Pyfer gave a very straightforward answer to Buckley’s question. He believes the promotion is prioritizing fighters from outside the U.S., including Russia, China, and other countries, to build international fanbases. ‘Bodybagz’ feels this is the main reason why American fighters are being overlooked.
Joe Pyfer also opined how “everybody else’s religion” is dominating the UFC, indirectly pointing to Russian and Dagestani fighters as the ones mostly ruling the promotion for nearly a decade. He said:
“All right. The reason I think it is, and sh*t might get cancelled. It is what it is, though. I think it’s because we have everybody else’s religion. We have everybody else’s uh like we don’t have like what I’m saying is like we we’re a melting pot. So, the UFC wants to bring all these Russian wrestlers. They want to bring all these guys from China.”
‘Bodybagz’ also added that there are fewer Americans on DWCS:
“They want to bring they’re, like, outsourcing everywhere else. Like, if you look at the Contender Series, there’s not that many American guys.”
Pyfer says that although there are enough budding American fighters, they do not get opportunities over fighters from other countries, who have more clout, being backed by the whole nation. The 29-year-old feels that although the Americans founded the UFC, they are the ones who are being neglected by the brass now.
Joe Pyfer says fighters from other countries bring massive fan bases, but have “padded records”
Joe Pyfer also added that fighters from other countries coming to the UFC may bring a massive number of fans along with them, but often have inflated records. He said:
“These guys come over with fuc**ng padded records that are 17-1, 18-0, and they have fought fu**ing crumb cans or fu**ing Russian sellers or some sh*t… They have all united country that supports their guy, so they get all the buzz.”
Check out Joe Pyfer’s comments below (41:05):
Meanwhile, Mike Perry added:
“Are Americans raising their children too soft? The boys in these other countries are being raised harder.”
Read Joe Pyfer’s answer to Mike Perry’s question by clicking on this link.
