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Curtis Blaydes is coming off a big knockout win over Chris Daukaus in the main event of UFC Columbus, re-establishing him as a threat at the top of the heavyweight division. Previous to that, a bad knockout loss to Derrick Lewis in February had shaken the confidence of "Razor."
In a new interview on The MMA Hour, Blaydes described what it was like coming back from such a devastating defeat. He said:
"I'm not going to lie to you, [that KO] was on the outskirts of my mind. When you get knocked out like that ... I woke up in the ambulance, so that's a weird feeling. And yeah, it got to me a little bit. But after the first round with Jairzinho [Rozenstruik], it was gone. It was initially there, but it was gone after the first round."
Pressed on the ambulance incident, Blaydes expanded:
"People always ask me who hits harder: Mark Hunt, [Francis] Ngnanou, Derrick Lewis. I fought them all, and only once ... I've been hit hard by Mark Hunt. He hit me hard, he wobbled me. Ngannou, when I went to Beijing, he dropped me but I was still there. But Derrick Lewis? All I remember was thinking 'Aight, I'm gonna shoot,' and then waking up in the ambulance. So he hits the hardest."
Watch Curtis Blaydes' full interview on The MMA Hour below:
Curtis Blaydes wants a shot at the UFC interim heavyweight title next
With Francis Ngannou out for the rest of 2022 following knee surgery, UFC president Dana White has said an interim heavyweight title may be up for grabs soon. If that's the case, then Curtis Blaydes wants an opportunity to compete for it. Following his win over Chris Daukaus at UFC Columbus, Blaydes said:
“I don’t want to fight guys just to fight guys. I’m trying to get to the belt so whoever that is, whatever route I have to take to get there the fastest, is the route I want. I have a pre-determined route. Whoever I believe is going to me there the fastest and right now I believe it would be [Ciryl] Gane but it might be Stipe [Miocic]. If it’s Stipe, I’ll take Stipe."
Blaydes believes it's only a matter of time before he gets his hands on the belt. He said:
"I’m only 31. I’m going to be here. I’ve got eight more years. I’m going to be here. That belt is going to be mine.”
Watch Curtis Blaydes' full interview at the UFC Columbus post-fight press conference below:
