LAS VEGAS – Abus Magomedov confirmed that he was indeed offered Joe Pyfer before.
Pyfer revealed that prior to fighting Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 316, he was offered Magomedov, but turned him down in hopes for a bigger name. Magomedov (28-6-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC) went on to beat Michel Pereira, and Pyfer notched a win over Gastelum. Now they’re matched up against each other.
Pyfer (14-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) didn’t like the narrative of ducking Magomedov, and claims he’s the one who asked for the fight. The pair open up Saturday’s UFC 320 (pay-per-view, FX/ESPNews/Disney+, ESPN+) main card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“They offered me last year to fight against him, but I never choose some opponent,” Magomedov told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “I just get the name and the location where we are going to fight. I can’t understand, too, how we can say no or yes. We are here to fight with everyone (with the) same goal: to be champion one day. To this moment, I can’t understand how you can say no.”
Magomedov said he could have flipped the script on Pyfer and turned him down, but that’s not how he operates as a fighter.
“Now I can say, ‘No, I don’t want to give him the opportunity,’ but like I said, I never choose someone against who I’m going to fight,” Magomedov said. “If you’ve seen my fights, I’ve fought against everyone. I never choose. I just say, ‘OK, let’s go. Just send me location and the name.'”
