Joseph
Pyfer did everything he was supposed to do, and he was rewarded
for it.
The former Ring of
Combat titleholder nailed down an
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract on
Week 1 of
Dana White’s Contender Series, as he wiped out Osman Diaz
with punches in the second round of their featured middleweight
pairing on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Diaz (7-2) bowed
out 1:39 into Round 2, his five-fight winning streak at an end.
Pyfer (8-1) seized the reins early in the first round and never
truly released them. He struck for a takedown inside 45 seconds,
threatened with an arm-triangle choke, advanced to the back and
secured his position with a body triangle. Diaz eventually reversed
into top position but failed to capitalize on the opportunity.
Pyfer rattled the reigning
Legacy Fighting Alliance champion with a crisp one-two at the
start of the middle stanza and reset himself for his next assault.
He leveled Diaz with a beautiful left hook, hovered above him and
brought it to a close with a burst of standing-to-ground
punches.
The 25-year-old Pyfer—who suffered a gruesome elbow injury during
his first DWCS appearance in August 2020—has won three of his past
four fights.
The three other victors on the card failed to punch their ticket to
the UFC. Dennis
Buzukja leaned on stellar takedown defense, an obvious
advantage in the standup department and a superior gas tank, as the
onetime Ring of Combat champion claimed a unanimous decision over
Kaleio
Romero in a three-round featherweight duel. All three cageside
judges struck 29-28 scorecards for Buzukja (8-2), a promising Ray
Longo protege.
Romero (6-2) pressed the issue in the clinch with knee strikes to
the legs and short punches upstairs but grew less and less
effective as the bout moved forward. Buzukja attacked the body in
the second round and connected with a knee strike to the head that
might have finished lesser men. Romero never stopped competing,
even transitioning from a spladle to an attempted twister in the
third round. Those efforts from the
Team Alpha Male prospect fell short, allowing Buzukja to hang
on to the decision.
The 24-year-old Buzukja has rattled off four consecutive wins.
Meanwhile, Anton
Turkalj kept his perfect professional record intact with a
clear-cut unanimous decision over Acacio
dos Santos in a three-round light heavyweight clash. In his
first appearance in more than a year, Turkalj (8-0) swept the
scorecards with 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 marks from the judges.
Outside of a few punching volleys and sneaky counters, dos Santos
(14-5) was ineffective. Turkalj closed the distance with surprising
ease, neutralized the Brazilian at close range and dragged him to
the canvas repeatedly. He advanced to the back on multiple
occasions, consolidated his positional dominance with a body
triangle and fed dos Santos elbows while hunting for a choke that
never materialized.
In other action, Alessandro
Costa (10-2) eked out a split decision—30-27, 28-29, 29-28—over
previously unbeaten Entram Gym prospect Andres Luna
(12-1) in a three-round flyweight affair.