RAF 13 live blog: Luke Rockhold vs. Joe Pyfer

Joe Pyfer dominated Luke Rockhold in a wrestling match at RAF 13 on Friday at the Watsoc Center in Miami, Florida, earning a decisive technical fall victory 13–3.

Rockhold, a former UFC middleweight champion who stepped away from MMA in 2022, has been competing across multiple combat sports disciplines in recent years. Making his second RAF appearance after a January loss to Colby Covington, Rockhold was outmatched on the mat. Both fighters abandoned wrestling after high school but took vastly different career paths—Rockhold to MMA stardom, Pyfer to his current ranking in the UFC's top-15 at middleweight.

Pyfer controlled the action from the opening moments, leveraging superior footwork and physicality to dictate positioning. He scored an early takedown with a bodylock throw, then added pushouts to extend his lead. Rockhold's attempts to penetrate with takedowns of his own were neutralized by Pyfer's whizzers, though he managed a few defensive points. By the second round, Pyfer's relentless pressure—combining bodylocks, throws, and boundary control—wore down Rockhold. A near-finish attempt saw Pyfer lift Rockhold for a throw and pin him to the mat with back exposure before the referee stopped the bout at 13–3.

Pyfer, nicknamed "Bodybagz," added another victory over a former UFC champion to his résumé, having knocked out Israel Adesanya in their recent UFC middleweight clash. The technical fall demonstrated the gap in grappling skill between an elite current UFC fighter and a heavyweight MMA legend attempting a crossover into pure wrestling.