Curtis Blaydes often talks about the inherent dangers that come along with fighting at heavyweight but not because he’s trying to create a built-in excuse for any potential losses.
Instead, the man who challenges Tom Aspinall for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 304, does it so fans, fighters and everyone in between remembers that his division is a whole different animal compared to the rest of the sport. Blaydes argues that the power generated by heavyweights almost makes every fight in the division unpredictable because it only takes one errant shot to end somebody’s night.
“I wish people would take that into account when they judge or critique heavyweight,” Blaydes explained when speaking to MMA Fighting. “Like ‘oh he got knocked out! He’s a bum!’ No, it’s heavyweight. If you watch [Sean] O’Malley against [Chito] Vera on [UFC] 299, if that was heavyweight, it wouldn’t have went five rounds. I promise you. The way O’Malley was hitting Vera, that’s not going past two rounds. Just because they don’t hit as hard.
“It’s not that we’re not as skilled, it’s that we have to be a little more skilled, I think in order to strike. That’s why I like to wrestle. This is a dangerous game at heavyweight.”
Blaydes knows from personal experience exactly how that works.
His four losses in the UFC have all come back knockout and it could be argued the three men responsible are a trio of the hardest hitting fighters to ever compete in MMA. That list includes Francis Ngannou, Derrick Lewis and Sergei Pavlovich, who have a combined 31 UFC knockouts and a 78 percent average for knockouts in their careers.
Of course those losses still sting for Blaydes just like if he fell by decision or submission but he also understands that getting put down at heavyweight at one point or another is almost inevitable.
“People are like ‘Blaydes has a glass jaw.’ I got knocked out by Derrick Lewis, Sergei caught me but I wasn’t asleep and [Francis] Ngannou but again, I wasn’t asleep,’ Blaydes said. “Three heavy, heavy hitters and I ate one from Mark Hunt, a real overhand. I ate that. I don’t think I have a glass jaw. I just think it’s heavyweight and we all hit hard.
“It’s almost a different sport when you compare it to other weight classes. The things you can get away with. You can flick out a lazy, inside leg kick and if you get hit with a hook, it’s not the end of the world. Not at heavyweight. That’s what happened to [Alexander] Volkov. He flicked out a lazy one with Derrick [Lewis] at the end of the fight, gets knocked out.”
Perhaps the only knockout loss that really bugs Blaydes is the one he suffered against Lewis back in 2021.
On that night, Blaydes started strong and had a dominant opening round against Lewis but in the second, he made the ill-fated mistake of shooting for a takedown without any kind of set up and he paid for it dearly. Lewis blasted him with an uppercut and Blaydes fell unconscious to the floor.
“People at home are like ‘Blaydes is a bum, his hands are ass.’ I’m like did you watch the first round?” Blaydes said. “I was piecing him up. Yeah, he caught me. He knew ‘this guy is way too fast, I’m just going to stand here and if I get him, I get him’ and he got me. I hate that.
“People probably view him as a better striker than me just because he got me with an uppercut. It wasn’t the most skillful thing in the world. I almost view it as I knocked myself out because I shot into an uppercut, which only makes it worse.”
While Blaydes has dramatically improved his striking since first arriving in the UFC, he’s never hidden the fact that wrestling remains his best and most used weapon.
It’s not just because he’s so good at taking opponents down to the ground but rather that’s Blaydes traveling down the path of least resistance rather than taking more chances on the feet where it’s constantly like ducking and dodging nuclear bombs.
“I wear it like a badge of honor,” Blaydes said. “A lot of people want to talk smack ‘oh he wants to wrestle!.’ You get in there. You stand in there with a heavy hitting heavyweight and you know you only get one you zigged where you should have zagged and it’s over. Let’s see if you wrestle or not, at least for a little bit.”
Blaydes can’t say for certain how his fight against Aspinall is going to play out Saturday but he’s preparing for every possible scenario.
Maybe that means shooting for the takedown or perhaps that means going for the knockout. But whatever the strategy, Blaydes promises he’s approaching it with an analytical mind focused only on winning but not necessarily winning over the crowd.
“There’s nothing wrong with being a smart fighter,” Blaydes said. “I know we all want to see the [Max] Holloway vs. [Justin] Gaethje. Those are lightweights.
“That don’t happen at heavyweight unless you’re on the sauce, which I’m not. That’s not going to happen at heavyweight. You’re never going to get a war like that. It’s just never going to happen.”
