Dana White generously gave UFC star Joe Pyfer a place to stay after telling him he would go homeless

Dana White has admitted that he couldn’t let emerging UFC fighter Joe Pyfer ‘go homeless’ and gave him some ‘cash on the side’ and a place to stay for a whole year. 

The 26-year-old fighter earned his first UFC contract earlier this summer having become one of the biggest talking points on Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS).

Scoring a huge second-round technical knockout during the first event of the series back in July, the fighter, whose nickname is ‘Bodybagz’, was the only combatant on the fight card that evening to be awarded a UFC contract. 

Joe Pyfer knocked undefeated fighter Alen Amedovski out cold in less than four minutes

The win was his debut in the UFC after battling with personal issues and injuries over the years 

And he made a crashing debut to his UFC career last weekend, with the 6ft 2in middleweight emphatically knocking undefeated fighter Alen Amedovski out cold in less than four minutes at UFC Vegas 60. 

But life hasn’t been plain sailing for the 26-year-old, who recently opened up to the UFC president telling him he was having financial problems and was about to become homeless. 

Taking a shine to the 6ft 1in fighter, White generously stepped in and gave the American a home for a whole year and a bit of extra cash to support himself.

While he is often criticised for how much pay UFC fighters receive, White gave a classy response to reporters following UFC 60, after Pyfer revealed during his post fight interview that the UFC boss had helped him.

He said: ‘I do a lot of things for a lot of people that I don’t necessarily talk about.

‘Joe Pyfer, when I left the press conference that night, he told me that he was about to be homeless. So, that ain’t going to happen.’

Pyfer revealed in his post-fight press conference that White had helped him financially 

While it seems the fighter has now found his calling inside the Octagon, his journey to fight sports’ pinnacle league has been all but plain sailing, with Pyfer suffering a gruesome arm injury back in 2020 that put a pause on his career. 

Issues in his personal life also compounded that further, with the fighter revealing recently on the MMA Hour Podcast that he struggled with depression following the injury and also had a difficult relationship with his parents.

But after his UFC debut, he was quick to express his gratitude to White, saying: ‘I believe in good people. 

‘I’m not gonna cry but I’m so fortunate to be here man. Sleeping on a park bench, running away from home, from abuse to being here. This is something I’ve been watching since four-and-a-half years old and doing, so, I’m in love with the game baby, lets go!

‘Thank you to Dana White, that man gave me cash on the side and gave me a place to live for the next year.

‘It’s my birthday today, I’m 26-years-old, I want that 50k bonus, because I’m the birthday boy, let’s go!’