Curtis Blaydes is fighting to regain his footing atop the UFC’s heavyweight division after suffering a brutal knockout loss at the hands of Derrick Lewis this past February (highlights HERE).
Luckily, Blaydes is already one of the best heavyweights in the world and won’t have to rebound too much to get back into contention. After all, “Razor” was winning his fight with Lewis back at UFC Vegas 19 before “Black Beast” caught him with a perfectly-timed uppercut and turned the lights out.
It was a disappointing loss for Blaydes to say the least. Not only was the wrestler riding a four-fight win streak entering the fight but his only previous knockout loss came to Francis Ngannou. Now Blaydes is left to pick up the pieces and reflect on a missed opportunity against “Black Beast.”
“First round, I won it hands down,” Blaydes told James Lynch of LowKick MMA. “I was faster, I was early. I was touching him up (with) calf kick, jabs, elbows (and) knees. We were doing what we had discussed, and everything was going great.
“The next round, sometimes when I get aggressive and I’m hunting the takedown, I forget everything else and I just go into takedown mode. That’s where he got me. I put my head down there and ate an uppercut,” Blaydes continued. “Lessons were learned and I wanna grow. I have already grown mentally, and I think physically the skills are going to continue to grow. I don’t know if we are going to get the rematch because I know Derrick is a little older and he doesn’t really seem like the type of guy who’s going to be around four or five years from now.”
Blaydes, 30, remains a major player in the UFC’s heavyweight division, especially with recent departures by veterans Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem (details HERE). He will be given the chance to prove his dominance once more and showcase an improved skill set that can get through the best power punchers in the game.
As for Lewis, Blaydes believes he wins that rematch any day of the week. He is obviously disappointed in losing to “Black Beast,” but confident the outcome will be different if the two heavyweights ever met again.
“I’m not too worried about it. He was the better fighter that night,” Blaydes said. “But, in no way do I think he is better than me. Nine out of ten times I think I smash him. I think, he just got me you know.”
What say you, Maniacs? Is Blaydes still a better fighter than Lewis?
Sound off!