UFC 303 Prelims: Pyfer Buries Barriault

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Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweights take notice: Joe Pyfer is one frightening individual.

Related » UFC 303 Round-by-Round Scoring

In the featured preliminary bout of UFC 303 on Saturday in Las Vegas, “Bodybagz” came close to living up to his nickname, obliterating Marc-Andre Barriault with a hail of punches against the fence that left “Power Bar” prone and senseless on the cage floor. It was barely a fight, as Pyfer waded forward immediately, backing Barriault up with big haymakers. Once he had corralled the Canadian against the fence, the rest was academic: Pyfer unleashed a series of huge punches, with a right hand sneaking behind Barriault’s raised guard to connect on the ear. Pyfer tacked on a left as his opponent fell, and Barriault wound up facedown with his hands at his sides, completely separated from his wits and referee Herb Dean waved off the fight at 1 minute, 25 seconds. The chilling knockout put Pyfer back on track after his first UFC loss against Jack Hermansson , and elevated his mark in the promotion to 4-1 overall. Barriault fell to 5-7 with one no contest in the UFC.

Fili Edges out Swanson

In a fight between two veterans so synonymous with the UFC featherweight division that it’s slightly surprising they had never met before, Andre Fili (24-11, 1 NC) edged out Cub Swanson (29-14) after three back-and-forth rounds. Fili, the younger man by nearly a decade, took control of the fight early, beating the 40-year-old Swanson to the punch for much of the first round while mixing in takedown attempts that kept his foe guessing. What was shaping up to be an entertaining but straightforward win for “Touchy” began to turn as the fight wore on, however, as Swanson started landing with increasing frequency and power, denying Fili’s efforts to bring the fight to the ground and gradually taking control. The second and third rounds were both close, defined by Swanson’s crisp jab, cross and constant forward pressure, and Fili’s sharp check hooks. The judges turned in split scorecards of 28-29, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Fili, running his Octagon mark to 12-10 with one no contest, while Swanson dropped to 14-10 since joining the UFC out of the acquisition of World Extreme Cagefighting over a decade ago.

Silva One-Shots Jourdain

Jean Silva took a big step up in the featherweight division—though he missed the divisional limit, forcing a 148-pound catchweight booking—and along the way, became the first man to knock out Charles Jourdain . The numbing power of “Lord” (13-2, 2-0 UFC) was in evidence from the onset, as he obliged “Air” Jourdain (15-8-1, 6-7-1 UFC) with his preferred kind of high-energy kickboxing match, only to have the French-Canadian turn to his wrestling mid-round. Silva appeared to come out slightly ahead in the wild first round, and Round 2 offered more of the same. That is, until Silva extricated himself from a takedown attempt near the cage, clipping Jourdain with a pinpoint uppercut to the chin on the break. Jourdain fell to his back, his head rebounding from the Octagon floor, and referee Marc Goddard had seen enough to call the fight at 1:22 of Round 2. The sensational win was Silva’s second in a row in the UFC and 10th overall, and while Saturday’s triumph was marred by the failure to make weight, Silva appears to be a man of interest at featherweight going forward.

Talbott Blitzes Ghemmouri

The buzz around Payton Talbott is becoming deafening, as the now 9-0 bantamweight sensation needed just 19 seconds to flatten Yanis Ghemmouri (12-3). The 25-year-old from Reno, Nevada, was sharp from the very first exchange, jumping all over a Ghemmouri leg kick attempt with a blistering one-two that leveled the Frenchman. Ghemmouri looked up in a daze, and after a second’s pause in case referee Chris Tognoni wished to stop the fight, Talbott tacked on a couple of standing-to-ground punches to leave no doubt. With that quick finish, Talbott’s second in the Octagon since joining the promotion this year, he looks primed to face a ranked fighter within his next bout or two; Ghemmouri has now lost his first two UFC bouts.

Robertson Mangles Retiring Waterson-Gomez

Gillian Robertson put on one of the most impressive performances of her career, absolutely steamrolling Michelle Waterson-Gomez on the ground in their strawweight feature. It was a mauling almost from the start, as Robertson (14-8; 11-6 UFC) hauled Waterson-Gomez (18-13; 6-9 UFC) to the canvas from a standing back take early in Round 1, landing in side control and going to work with a steady, deliberate positional attack. It was a fair indicator of what was to come: Robertson spent the balance of the fight punishing Waterson-Gomez with precise ground strikes, making life miserable with a forearm or elbow across the neck, and constantly working to set up armbars. Any or all of the three rounds could have been scored 10-8 for Robertson, who prevailed by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26). Robertson exited the Octagon on the back of two straight dominant performances, while former Invicta Fighting Championships atomweight champ Waterson-Gomez, who has now suffered “Beatdown of the Year” level setbacks in her last two fights and five straight losses overall, retired at age 38.

Buday Prevails over Arlovski in 15-Minute Slog

The ageless Andrei Arlovski may be nearing the end of the road, as he fell to the younger, larger Martin Buday in a grueling 15-minute heavyweight affair that was as difficult to score as it was to watch. Former champ Arlovski (34-24, 2 NC; 23-18, 1 NC UFC), despite carrying a three-fight skid into the matchup with Buday (14-2, 5-1 UFC), had remained generally competitive as he rounded his 45th birthday, and Saturday was no different. The fight was characterized by long clinch exchanges against the fence that drew audible disapproval from the T-Mobile Center crowd and several admonishments from referee Mark Smith. All three rounds were individually close and competitive, coming down to a bare handful of notable punches, knees to the body and the subjective question of who was “winning” the clinch stalemates. The cageside judges with the unenviable task of scoring the affair were unsurprisingly split, but “Badys” walked away with the win via 29-28, 28-29 and 30-27 marks. The win allowed the hulking Slovakian to rebound from his loss at the hands of Shamil Gaziev , while Arlovski suffered his fourth straight defeat.

Rei Tsuruya Impresses in Debut Win over Hernandez

Rei Tsuruya kept his professional record spotless, putting on a grappling clinic against Carlos Hernandez in their flyweight preliminary clash. Tsuruya (10-0) racked up a litany of high-level wrestling techniques and exotic submission attempts against Hernandez (9-4), including a belly-to-belly throw, a calf slicer and several twister variations, but the American proved game, keeping himself out of serious danger on most occasions. Hernandez held his own for the parts of the fight that took place on the feet, but appeared to be down two rounds to none going into the final frame. Hernandez got off to a good start there, landing in top position off of a failed throw attempt by Tsuruya, and spent the first half of the round working from top position, but Tsuruya was patient and exploded back to his feet once Hernandez postured up to try and throw heavier strikes. Hernandez kept the pressure on, however, and closed out the fight by pummeling a suddenly tired-looking Tsuruya against the fence. The judges rendered their decision in favor of Tsuruya by unanimous 29-28 scores, giving him his first win since joining the promotion out of the second season of “Road to UFC,” while Hernandez’s UFC mark fell to 2-3.

Oliveira Stymies Simon

In the opening bout, Vinicius Oliveira declared himself a force to be reckoned with in the bantamweight division by picking up a surprisingly easy-looking win over veteran contender Ricky Simon . Simon, who entered the cage as a better than two-to-one favorite struggled through much of the first two rounds with the Brazilian’s speed and power, and on the two occasions he was able to bring the fight to the floor, Oliveira returned to his feet quickly and without suffering any significant damage. A potential turning point came late in Round 2 when Simon checked a low kick from Oliveira that left him hobbling. The cageside doctor was brought in to examine Oliveira’s leg between rounds, but after he pronounced him fit for duty, Oliveira went right back to work, continuing to frustrate and neutralize his foe. After placing an exclamation point on the performance by landing a takedown of his own late in Round 3, Oliveira was awarded the unanimous decision, picking up two 30-27 scorecards and one 29-28. With the win, “Lok Dog” moved to 21-3 overall, 2-0 in the UFC with the win; Simon fell to 20-6 (8-5 UFC).