Israel Adesanya vs. Joe Pfeiffer: Underdog eyes sore eyes as UFC Fight Night approaches
Anytime you’re about to step into the Octagon against a fighter considered one of the greatest fighters of all time, it’s natural to be nervous. Joe Pfeifer will join UFC Fight Night on Saturday, March 28 with the task of welcoming former UFC middleweight king Israel Adesanya.
The Last Stylebender is coming into the fight despite not being in the best form. Since getting revenge on Alex Pereira and winning the middleweight strap for the second time, Adesanya has lost three consecutive bouts. This included a decision loss to Shawn Strickland, a submission loss to Darius du Plessis and then being knocked out by Nasourdin Imavov. After this he went on a gap of 14 months, which was the longest gap of his career.
Despite this, Adesanya is considered the heavy favorite in the fight. After all, he is a man who enjoyed one of the fastest runs to the top of the division. Pfeiffer is well aware of the noise surrounding the former UFC middleweight champion, but the plans, according to the former Dana White Contender Series grad, are simple: He’s treating it like any other fight.
“Just have to change the strategy a little bit. The game plan is different for every fight. But I’ve been preparing for 5 rounds and really studying Adesanya and what he likes to do and what his cells are like. So yes, like any other fight,” Pfeiffer told India Today.
Pifer is coming off a three-fight winning streak and is 6-1 in his UFC career. Many feel he is moving forward while Adesanya is moving in the opposite direction despite being 36 years old. But Americans do not believe this to be true. When it came to pressure, he said he was not facing it, adding that it would be up to Adesanya to perform and come out on top. In fact, he is happy with the underdog tag against Adesanya.
“He’s still one of the best in the world. He’s definitely the goat of the middleweights, and he’s not old. It’s not that he looked terrible in his last three fights. It’s not that he looked slow. He got caught, that’s OK. It is what it is, but I still think he’s one of the best and I think he’s motivated and he’s here to fight. So I don’t feel any pressure. All the pressure is on him. If he’s still going to be that way then I’m a guy who shouldn’t be able to compete with him on paper,” Pifer said.
lean towards faith
One notable feature about Pifer over the years has been how she has gotten rid of her angry personality and acquired a calm personality. Openly embracing faith and a new relationship with Jesus Christ, he aims to use this as a way to deal with all the media attention in this fight.
“There’s definitely noise. I can definitely let this moment come to me and be bigger than it is. But I don’t really feel like it’s that big. I know the magnitude of the fight is huge, but I don’t think I’ve done a lot of interviews about it because of everything that’s happened in my life.”
“I’m just relying on my faith and my prayers and trusting that whatever’s supposed to happen will happen and letting go of what I can’t control.”
Pfeiffer is currently ranked 14th in the middleweight rankings and a win against Adesanya would certainly take him into the top 10. But his approach is to just fight and forget about the numbers ahead of him. His mantra is simple. Fight whoever is in front of you. When it comes to Adesanya, show no fear.
“It doesn’t matter what numbers are next to my name. I’ll fight whoever they put in front of me and I’ll try to destroy whoever they put in front of me. So right now it’s Israel, and even though I respect them, I’m not afraid of them, and I’ll walk in there and implement my game plan and be vicious,” Pifer said.
And this belief and simplicity of his still continues when it comes to his goals in the game. For him, it’s just about competing and seeing if he can truly excel with the best in the business.
“My goal is just to see how far I can take it. That was always my goal when I came into MMA. It was to see if I stay true to myself, stay true to what I believe in, I can compete with the best, beat the best, and I can fight at the highest level.”
“I think I’ve shown that I can fight at the highest level. This is absolutely the highest level, so, we’ll see if it’s even more competitive, right? I think no matter what happens for me in the Adesanya fight, it’s a win. Obviously, I’m driving to win, and, God willing, I’ll get it,” Pifer said.
Watch UFC Fight Night – Adesanya vs Pfeiffer live on March 29, 2026 at 5:30 PM IST on Sony Sports Ten 2 SD & HD, Sony Sports Ten 3 SD & HD (Hindi), Sony Sports Ten 4 SD (Tamil & Telugu).
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