Chris Curtis’ coaches helped him realize it was OK to be messy against Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC 297
TORONTO – Chris Curtis beat Marc-Andre Barriault with a split decision Saturday on the main card at UFC 297 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
Take a look inside the fight with Curtis, who has alternated wins and losses his past five results.
Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Chris Curtis
Result: Chris Curtis def. Marc-Andre Barriault via split decision (30-27, 28–29, 30-27)
Updated records: Curtis (31-10 MMA, 5-2 UFC), Barriault (16-7 MMA, 5-6 UFC) (SD)
Key stats: Curtis outstruck Barriault 144-124.
Curtis on the fight's key moment
“I watch a lot of cartoons and movies and sh*t and I came up watching ‘Power Rangers’ and ‘Rocky.’ In my head, everything has to be choreographed – like perfect in a sequence. When I start doing things, it doesn’t look perfect. I get discouraged. Like, ‘Fuck – I don’t look like Apollo Creed.’ And I’m like, ‘OK, you know what? It’s real life. It’s going to be messy.’ And especially this fight, (my coaches) were like, ‘OK, let it be messy. It’s fine. Let it be f*cking messy. He’s messy. It’s OK to be messy.’ It worked. It went the way we thought it would.”
Curtis on finding his career comfort zone
“He did say I was his ticket. A lot of people buy tickets and never cash. That sh*t happens all the time. People call me a gatekeeper – whatever. Cool, bro. But you still can’t come in. If I’m the gatekeeper, you still don’t get to come in. So honestly, I don’t give a f*ck (whom I fight next). I make a decent amount of money now, so, I’ll just gladly keep beating up people who want to come in. My life’s cool. I’ll gladly keep beating up people who want to come in because every time I win, my check goes up.”
Curtis on what he wants next
“When is that (fight vs. Anthony Hernandez) – (Feb. 17)? No. This is the newer, smarter older Chris Curtis. We’re like, ‘Hey, we just had a hard camp. Stop jumping back into fights right away.’ That’s what got me f*cked over from (Nassourdine Imavov) in 2023). I was upset about the (Kelvin) Gastelum fight. My entire team was like, ‘You probably shouldn’t fight.’ … I was like, ‘Nah man, I know what I’m doing. I’m going to go do it.” And I went in there and just sh*t the bed. So no, we’re not going to fight next month because we’re going to be smarter this time. I will see you guys in probably about three months.”
To hear more from Curtis, check out the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.
