Joe Pyfer questions the UFC middleweight rankings after his most recent win.
Pyfer (14-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) rebounded from his main event loss to Jack Hermansson with a knockout of Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC 303, followed by a unanimous decision win over former interim title challenger Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 316 last month.
The 28-year-old Dana White’s Contender Series graduate is eyeing a return by the end of the year.
“Somebody in the top 15 (is what I want). I don’t have anybody specific,” Pyfer told MMA Junkie Radio. “There’s a lot of fights booked right now in the top 15, so I’ve got to wait to see how it plays out. It’s obviously got to make sense as far as location of where I’m fighting, but I would like to fight September, October.”
When pressed on a name, Pyfer said he’d fight anyone, but was more concerned about his placement in the UFC’s middleweight rankings.
“There’s many people, but I’m not going to voice it because UFC doesn’t care what I want,” Pyfer said. “The UFC offers you a fight and usually you’ve got to take it, type of deal. So in a perfect world, if I was allowed to fight who I want, I’d be much higher ranked.
“I think it’s a little bit wild that I’m 5-1 and I’m not in the top 15. I just beat a legend who got inducted to the Hall of Fame for his fight with Izzy (Adesanya), but then you’ve got guys who are 3-2 that are top 15 or whatever Abus Magomedov is. I think that’s ridiculous, so it is what it is.”