Joe Pyfer Face Plants Barriault in Brutal Fashion at UFC 303

LAS VEGAS — American MMA fighter Joe Pyfer hit Marc-Andre Barriault so hard that he face-planted the canvas in brutal fashion Saturday at UFC 303 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Even though rising star Payton Talbott scored a 19-second finish, Pyfer’s knockout was arguably the nastiest of the night as Barriault barely moved once he was on the canvas, bearing uncanny similarity to the way in which Juan Manuel Marquez flattened Manny Pacquiao in their fourth and final fight in 2012 at the nearby MGM Grand Garden Arena.

It was a great win for Pyfer, who bounced back from the first loss of his UFC career having come unstuck in a defeat via decision to Jack Hermansson in February, earlier this year.

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One of The UFC’s Newest Stars Scored a Lightning-Quick KO Win

Payton Talbott is one of the UFC’s newest stars and scored a lightning-quick win at UFC 303.

Joe Pyfer Smoked Marc-Andre Barriault

Pyfer’s knockout win was the nastiest of the night

Pyfer only needed 85 seconds to finish his fight, landing landing eight strikes from 10 thrown, targeting the head and legs of Barriault, with a body shot in the mix for good measure. Pyfer had barely broken a sweat, and didn’t even get hit as Barriault threw five shots but landed none, before the end came — one of the year’s best knockouts.

Watch the end right here:

UFC 303 Dazzled Even Without Conor McGregor

There were a number of stand-out performances

The UFC 303 event that GIVEMESPORT attended live Saturday in Las Vegas originally featured the return of Conor McGregor in the main event, against Michael Chandler. However, McGregor suffered a broken pinky toe earlier this month and withdrew from the contest. As Jamahal Hill, who was in line to fight Carlos Ulberg, also withdrew, it left UFC executives scrambling to save the event.

But the replacement fights delivered. Alex Pereira showed that he is arguably the face of the UFC roster as he obliterated Jiri Prochazka with a head kick to retain the light heavyweight championship.

Brian Ortega was down to fight Diego Lopes at lightweight but succumbed to illness on the night of the fight, and so, again, UFC execs somehow figured out a solution by recruiting UFC fighter Dan Ige, who lives in Las Vegas, to fight Lopes. Ige got the call just four hours before the fight was due to commence.

Elsewhere, Ian Machado Garry edged Michael ‘Venom’ Page with a three-round decision win in their welterweight fight, and rising star Payton Talbott scored an incredible 19-second win over Yanis Ghemmouri in their bantamweight bout.

The UFC returns on July 13 with a UFC on ESPN show at Ball Arena in Denver, before coming back to Vegas for a UFC on ESPN 60 show at the Apex on July 20. It finishes the month with a trip to the UK for UFC 304, featuring a main event between Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad, on July 27 in Manchester.