“I think what has really helped me is that he’s 0-0 against me —we’re both 0-0 against each other —and I’m not going to look at all his other performances as ‘Well he beat this guy that is really good and this guy that is really good,’” Pyfer explained, seated inside Webb Fitness & MMA. “He hasn’t beaten me, and I think I’m a unique person to be able to beat, and I’m gonna treat it like I do everything else.
“I do this every day, and he’s a human being that has air (in his lungs), blood (in his veins). He’s another normal human being that has done some really good stuff in there, so just don’t make him more than human, don’t make him more than what he is: he’s an MMA fighter just like me.”
Eight weeks later, Pyfer has dialed in that approach even more.
“His resume is amazing, and he has experience, and I’m the destruction, I’m a bulldozer, but that could be my fate too; that could get me in trouble,” he said. “I’m gonna stick to what makes me great and what makes me me. I’m gonna go out there, I’m gonna be violent, I’m gonna put the pressure on him, and I’m gonna take that space from him.
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“I’m not gonna idolize him —he’s a human being, just like I am. He breathes air, and he bleeds blood, so it’s fair game. That’s why this is an amazing sport because it could be anybody’s night. I thought he was better than Sean Strickland; he came up short; maybe he had an off night?
“We’ll see who shows up, but I think the freedom in my faith is not making any man bigger than what he is —just a man.”