When the finalized bout order for the UFC 225 pay-per-view (PPV) event — which is set to go down on June 9, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois — was revealed, many were left scratching their heads with the decision to put the Heavyweight bout between Alistair Overeem and Curtis Blaydes on the “prelims” in order to promote Holly Holm vs. Megan Anderson to the main card.
Both Overeem and Blaydes didn’t seem too bothered by the news, and now “The Reem” is explaining his stance by saying he is not insulted by the business decision and has no issue losing a main card spot on the PPV portion of the event to his teammate.
Furthermore, since his fight will air on FOX Sports 1, he will have more viewers when it’s all said and done. He broke it all down during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour.
“I was a little bit surprised with the decision. But when I think about it, I can see where UFC is coming from, they want to build the women’s featherweight division. My friend and teammate Holly Holm being a big name, so she shouldn’t be on the prelims anyway. For me, personally I don’t have a problem with the decision. It’s going to be on free TV, and it might be on a bigger audience, right? UFC understand the television stuff and I understand if it’s going to be a bigger picture. It’s all good. I’m just there focusing on my performance, my focus has been really high and I’m just going to put on my energy to put on a best performance whether it’s on TV or pay-per-view, they have their reasons and it’s all good.”
Aside from a bigger audience, “The Reem” loves the fact that he gets to fight earlier and get his business out of the way to enjoy the rest of the show. The hard-hitting big man is looking to bounce back from a devastating first-round knockout to Francis Ngannou at UFC 218 last December.
As for Blaydes, he is looking to score his sixth straight win and was most recently seen outscoring Mark Hunt at UFC 221 last February.
Megan Anderson, meanwhile, will be making her promotional debut against the former UFC women’s Bantamweight champion and former 145-pound title contender Holm, who is looking to bounce back from her loss to Cris Cyborg last December.
To see the rest of the stacked lineup click here.