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Curtis Blaydes is always in the mix among the top Heavyweight contenders in the UFC. He's currently riding a two-fight win streak following his second knockout loss to Francis Ngannou and he's going to need another couple of wins to earn a title shot since Ngannou is believed to be the next legitimate contender.
However, the Heavyweight division is in a bit of a standstill right now as Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier have one win apiece. Cormier stated that his third fight with Miocic will be his last and the UFC will be heading that direction as it has the most money in it.
When talking to MMA Fighting, Blaydes was asked to predict the trilogy fight and Blaydes chose the Croatian-American Miocic to walk out victorious again. He said:
“I’ll go with Stipe [to win] again. Especially after both got a win under their belts, if they do fight again, the rounds are going to be a lot more explosive. They’ve both seen what the other one has and they won’t be as tentative. I still think Stipe’s the better striker and he definitely has the reach advantage.
He then pointed out something very interesting. Just like how Anthony "Rumble" Johnson's downfall against Cormier was in trying to wrestle him out of his ego, Blaydes feels that Cormier will try to outstrike Miocic.
“It all depends if DC goes in there with the mindset just to wrestle, he could probably win, but I think he has an ego. He wants to strike with Stipe and that will be his downfall. I would definitely love to see that happen [with me against Stipe] but right now I’m focused on JDS and we’ll go from there.”
Blaydes is set to face Junior Dos Santos at the end of January at Raleigh, a card that will also feature Frankie Edgar's Bantamweight debut against Cody Sandhagen and Rafael Dos Anjos against Michael Chiesa.
That fight undoubtedly puts the title picture at a clearer place, but Blaydes will have to wait for a while longer as he's still behind Francis Ngannou in line and the Cameroonian has two finishes over Blaydes.
Hopefully, we'll get a clear picture of the Heavyweight title in 2020.
