UFC Fighter Almost Took His Life, But God Reached Out

Published: April 3, 2026

By Michaela Gordoni

At his last match on March 28, UFC’s Joe Pyfer, AKA Bodybagz, told the crowd that he almost took his life just weeks ago.

Then, “I found God,” he said from inside the battle cage. Until a few weeks ago, fighting was all he cared about. Now? He says it’s “God is first.”

“I feel reborn,” he shared last week. “I feel reinvigorated. It’s very important for the world to hear God has restored my life.”

At the peak of depression, he had a dream where God appeared and chose him.

He “took my hand and gave me a restored life, a renewed life,” Pyfer said during a press conference. Pyfer was “born into chaos and a messed-up family, as many children are,” he said, adding that he had “lust issues” and a “toxic cycle of coping.” In his dream, he felt “disgusted about who I am” and was able to “take Jesus’ hand and actually change.”

“You can be a better man,” he said. “God is real, Jesus is real, and there’s certain ways that you’re called to live.”

He’s made a complete 180°.

“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. I know it’s not everybody’s cup of tea,” he explained, but “give yourself a chance because it’s true freedom.”

His longtime girlfriend has helped him put God “at the center of everything,” he said, adding that “I want a family more than anything right now.”

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His faith has given him renewed strength in the ring.

“It’s made me more powerful because I’m not stressed about…the fight,” Pyfer said. “I think [faith is] going to make me that much better because I know what I’m fighting for isn’t for me.”

He said following Jesus is “the hardest road,” but “It’s the true meaning of what it is to be a man, and it’s given me true freedom.”

He’s content for anything God has for him, whether he wins or loses.

“I think God’s timing is perfectly perfect. I had lost myself along the way” and “This is my chance to show the world, show the people that support me, that you’re never too far gone if you come to know Christ as your Lord and Savior,” he said.

A commentator observed that recently, Pyfer’s energy in the ring is completely different than the “pyscho” energy he used to bring.

“It’s almost like he’s not looking for a fight or doesn’t want to be in one,” the commentator said. Despite the commentator’s concern that he might not win his fight against Israel Adesanya over the weekend, Pyfer still won.

“Faith does not make you weak,” Pyfer said.

Praise God that Pyfer found Him and isn’t holding anything back about sharing His power in his life!

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