Middleweights
Joseph Pyfer (11-2, 2-0 UFC) vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan (12-5, 6-5 UFC)The last two years have worked out surprisingly well for Pyfer, who looks like a middleweight prospect to watch. Pyfer did not make much of a first impression on the greater stage. “Bodybagz” earned a shot on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020, only to quickly wind up breaking his arm in gruesome fashion. It would be over a year until Pyfer was back in action, and he found himself back on DWCS in 2022 after a successful comeback fight. His knockout win was a solid performance in a vacuum but particularly stood out on what had been a lackluster edition of the show, prompting the UFC to suddenly decide it was in the Joe Pyfer business, giving him some surprisingly prominent placement, including this co-main event assignment. Pyfer has at least kept up his part of the bargain, showing some patience but still scoring some impressively quick knockouts of Alen Amedovski and Gerald Meerschaert without even needing to pivot to what has typically been a sound grappling game. Pyfer draws his most dangerous opponent yet in the form of Alhassan, who quietly seems to be evolving as a fighter.
A judoka by trade, Alhassan showed none of those skills early on in his career. A knockout artist to the core, Alhassan’s UFC debut marked his seventh straight win, none of which made it to the 90-second mark. However, starting with a 2017 loss to Omari Akhmedov, a clear pattern emerged for Alhassan’s career. He would always win by first-round knockout and had few answers for grinding wrestlers who could drag him into deeper waters. Surprisingly, Alhassan has never imploded to the point of being finished—though Kalinn Williams did manage to spark him in just 30 seconds—and his last two fights have finally seen him learn to control his pace and become a more effective fighter over 15 minutes. A decision loss to Joaquin Buckley saw him find second and third winds, while he took his time before a second-round knockout of Claudio Ribeiro in January. While this is no longer a guaranteed Pyfer win if it goes past the five-minute mark, the read is still that the former Ring of Combat champion’s own patience and potency should be enough to work his way towards a finish, even if it may take a while to ramp up to that point. The pick is Pyfer via second-round knockout.
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Dawson vs. Green
Pyfer vs. Alhassan
Buckley vs. Morono
Dober vs. Glenn
Cutelaba vs. Lins
Algeo vs. Hernandez
The Prelims