Curtis Blaydes thinks that UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou should take advantage of the opportunities available to him outside of MMA.
The 31-year-old heavyweight made an appearance on the YouTube channel The Hannibal TV to discuss his upcoming main event bout at UFC Fight Night London. “Razor” was also asked his thoughts on the current status of former opponent Ngannou.
“If I were him, I would retire from MMA,” Blaydes said. “He’s already done enough. He’s not gonna earn as much as he would earn in boxing. I would take the bag, take the opportunity to earn $40 million.”
Ngannou is currently recovering from knee surgery following his heavyweight title defense against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in January. The 35-year-old’s contract with the UFC is set to expire at the end of this year, and “The Predator” has been vocal about his desire to box Tyson Fury once he’s healthy.
There’s been considerable speculation that the UFC might strip Ngannou of the heavyweight title if he intends to wait his contract out, but Blaydes isn’t so sure.
“I don’t know if the UFC’s gonna wanna strip him. That’s another ‘I don’t know’. That’s up to them. You’d be a fool to actually think anyone knows what they’re gonna do.”
Currently the UFC’s #4-ranked heavyweight contender, Blaydes has shared the cage with Ngannou on two occasions. The two men first fought in 2016 in Blaydes’ UFC debut, with Ngannou coming out on top after a doctor called the fight off at the end of the second round.
“Razor” rebounded from his first career loss by going 5-0 (1 NC) through his next six fights before a main event rematch with Ngannou at a UFC Fight Night in Beijing. “The Predator” stopped Blaydes in under a minute to start his current five-fight win streak that includes winning the heavyweight strap from Stipe Miocic.
Blaydes is currently on a two-fight win streak following a decision over Jairzinho Rozenstruik and a second-round stoppage of Chris Daukaus. He’s scheduled to headline UFC Fight Night London in July against Tom Aspinall.
What do you think of Blaydes’ comments about Ngannou? Should the UFC’s heavyweight champion move on from the sport?
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