UFC fighter Joe Pyfer: 'I almost took my own life,' but 'found God'

Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Joe Pyfer is crediting God with preventing him from carrying out a suicide attempt and says a recent encounter with Jesus Christ transformed his life.  

In a postgame interview following his victory in a UFC fight Saturday, Pyfer emotionally recalled how “I almost took my own life, like, a couple weeks ago, and I found God."

"God restored me, baby. That’s the only reason I’m here,” he declared. 

When he was asked a question about his performance, Pyfer said he was giving “all glory to God for this win,” adding that were it not for God, “I’d be dead in a ditch somewhere.” 

In an earlier interview ahead of the fight, Pyfer said he's had “a complete resurgence” and “life change 360 as far as my faith and God and Jesus Christ.”

Pyfer added, “I feel like I had an out-of-body experience with something that happened in my life where I was able to see who I was, and I was pretty disappointed. And I feel like God gave me a direction and gave me a chance to change my life, and it’s the craziest presence I’ve ever felt in my life.”

“I feel like everything’s different,” he continued. “The main change is like actually having direction and understanding how to live.”

Pyfer said he has a new mindset, one that is “part of being a believer, part of being a true Christian [and] following the commandments that we’re called to do.”

He acknowledged that “I’m going to fall short” but added that “the point of prayer is for forgiveness and then also to repent and change your ways.” 

Pyfer also spoke about his girlfriend, Ashlyn, and how they have been in a relationship for over six years, noting that he is “envisioning marriage and a family [and] serving her as my wife, as my significant other and my partner.”

Another goal he has is to refocus on God and put his trust in Him as he moves forward with his life. 

“Before, I thought that this was all or nothing, and I didn’t know who I was outside of fighting,” he said. “I think if you had taken this away from me, I would have self-destructed and not realizing what kind of fragile state I was really in.”

Pyfer detailed how he had an addiction to “the sins of the world,” including “temptation” and “lust,” which he maintained were “destroying me from the inside out.” He also thanked God for putting his girlfriend in his life, whom he described as “the only person at an intimate level that has ever come into my life and loved me through anything and everything and still accepted me in the end.” 

“I’m in a rebuilding phase in my life. I’m a baby Christian, but I feel like a born-again believer, and I feel like it’s very important for me to talk about it. So I know it’s not everybody’s cup of tea. For the ones who don’t believe, give yourself a chance because … it’s true freedom.” 

Pyfer shared how “I feel like God called on me in a dream, where I was able to have this out of body experience and take Jesus’ hand and actually change.” He characterized his ongoing faith journey as “the hardest road I’ve ever taken” and “the hardest road to live.”

“It’s true respect. It’s the true meaning of what it is to be a man,” he insisted. “It’s given me true freedom.”

Outlining how his priorities have changed, Pyfer said “fighting was number one at the top,” but now his life has been reoriented so that “it’s probably third or fourth.” He named God as the most important priority in his life, followed by his girlfriend and his children, once he decides to have them. 

Pyfer also suggested that his faith has made him “more powerful” because he’s “not stressed about this week or anything to do with the fight.” 

“I truly, truly believe, bro, that whatever God has planned with me, I can’t be upset at the result. I feel like it frees me from trying to control ‘I got to win, I got to win, I got to win.’”

After vowing to “go out there and compete,” he cited the possibility of a win as “what God wills” as a reward, while a loss would indicate “I have things to work on.”

During a lengthy postgame interview over the weekend, Pyfer expressed confidence that “there’s eternity and peace and happiness and God chose me and saved my life.” He suggested that “it could have been anybody else to fight the greatest middleweight of all time, but God chose me.” 

Provided additional details about his transformation, he said, “I broke down and just bawled my eyes out and … I had a dream that night that I went to sleep and I woke up and everything was different.” 

Even after his life-changing dream, Pyfer said it took him an additional week to “pray for forgiveness and truly repent and change,” adding, “I feel like my soul’s been cleansed where I can’t even remember how I used to talk, how I used to act, how I used to think.” 

Reflecting on the fight, Pyfer explained that “every time I questioned something, I just prayed and I just asked God to give me the strength, asked God to be in my life, just asked God to give me this opportunity, and He did. I had no fear and I walked out there and I faced my fate, whatever God’s plan was, and God granted me victory.”