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Curtis Blaydes has revealed that UFC president Dana White has never spoken to him since he joined the promotion back in 2016.
Even though Curtis Blaydes is the No. 2 heavyweight contender and holds a record of 9-2-1 in the UFC, he feels like White does not like him due to his pragmatic approach when fighting.
Criticized by White for his performance in his last fight with Alexander Volkov in 2020, Curtis Blaydes struggles to understand what he did to bother the UFC boss.
Speaking to ESPN's Ariel Helwani, he explained why he thinks White never reached out to him.
"I have never actually spoken to Dana. Not in person …I don't think he follows my [Instagram]. I know he doesn't have my phone number. I was surprised he even spoke up after the fight [against Alexander Volkov]," Curtis Blaydes said. "I didn't even think he knew who the hell I was at that point." (H/T Sherdog for quotes)
"Of course, you want to be cool with the boss. But I also understand he likes guys who give some highlights. I've got to add some more highlights to my resume, and maybe we'll have a drink or two one day."
Curtis Blaydes disagrees with Dana White's criticism
White disapproved of Curtis Blaydes' performance against Alexander Volkov because, according to the UFC boss, he gassed out early in the fight and then just dragged the bout to the end.
Curtis Blaydes said in the same conversation with Ariel Helwani:
"I beat Alexander Volkov. That's a legit win. I don't care how you do it. You shouldn't be disrespectful about how the win happened."
Carrying a sequence of four straight wins in the heavyweight division, he comes with the same mindset to the fight against Derrick Lewis in this weekend's UFC Vegas 19 main event.
Curtis Blaydes concluded:
"If I win the exact same way next, I would be fine because guess what; it's another win, it's a win bonus. I don't know if a lot of people care, but I have a family. I'm trying to feed my family. I don't care if you want me to risk my win bonus, which is $100,000, to stand and bang with a guy who has terrible wrestling. I'm just not going to do it. Unless you defend every takedown attempt, I'm not going to stop trying to wrestle you. You have to deter me, and I don't think Derrick is going to deter me."
