UFC Vegas 71: Curtis Blaydes has a championship résumé, but may talk himself out of a title fight
LAS VEGAS — There is little question that Curtis Blaydes has done enough at this point in his career to have earned a shot at the UFC heavyweight title. He's 17-3 with 12 KOs heading into the main event of UFC Vegas 71 on Saturday at Apex against third-ranked Sergei Pavlovich.
Blaydes has wins over Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos, Alexander Volkov and Tom Aspinall. His only losses were twice by KO to ex-heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and KO king Derrick Lewis.
The problem is, Blaydes isn't the only one who has earned a right to face champion Jon Jones, and former champion Stipe Miocic is going to get the next shot. That's likely to come in November on the UFC's annual trip to Madison Square Garden in New York.
If Blaydes defeats Pavlovich, and he's a -165 favorite at BetMGM to do so, he'll likely be set to face the Jones-Miocic winner.
That's all clear and it all makes sense.
But, and there's always a but when it comes to Blaydes, he's no cinch to get that. His June 20, 2020, victory over Volkov wasn't much of a fight and it has long since been forgotten by most. You had better believe, though, that it hasn't been forgotten by UFC president Dana White. Before the fight, Blaydes spoke of using his wrestling to "rag doll" Volkov.
During the fight, Blaydes took Volkov down and just held him there for long stretches. The fight was mostly a yawner, even if the strategy was effective for Blaydes. It got him a win, but earned him plenty of enmity from White that night.
"But with his performance tonight and his cardio, I wouldn’t wait around [for a title shot]," White said. "I’d stay active. I’d stay busy. I like Curtis Blaydes, but Curtis Blaydes has the wrong attitude as far as I’m concerned. I don’t have anything against the kid at all, but when you talk s*** like he talked it this week, man, you better come in and whip somebody’s ass when you talk s*** like that. When you talk the s*** that he talked and performed like he performed tonight, you look stupid.”
Blaydes has largely fought conservatively since, and has attempted to minimize risks. He's gone 3-1 since beating Volkov, but his fight with Tom Aspinall last year ended after 15 seconds when Aspinall suffered a significant knee injury.
Aspinall is back training and if he wins a fight in the second half of the year, he could leapfrog Blaydes if Blaydes wins but doesn't look good against Pavlovich.
The problem for Blaydes is, he's already essentially saying he's going to sit out. That kind of statement has been made by many other fighters over the years and it always raises White's ire. White believes in fighters keeping active and facing the best, and Blaydes is essentially saying he's going to sit on the lead and wait if he gets a win over Pavlovich.
“I know what I’m working toward,” Blaydes said Wednesday at media day. “If I win, I’ll wait. I’ll wait for a title shot. I don’t care who it is. If it’s Jon, if it’s Stipe, if they bring in Brock Lesnar, I’ll wait.”
You have to know the room when you're speaking publicly, and while White wasn't in attendance, he's very much aware of what Blaydes said and what his intentions are.
Blaydes was supremely honest when he could have easily brushed off questions about his future by saying he was fully focused on Pavlovich. When Yahoo Sports asked Pavlovich a similar question, he sloughed it off and wouldn't give an answer.
Winning is always the most important thing and if Blaydes keeps winning, he'll eventually get a title shot. But if the choice of opponent for a title shot is close, does he want to risk White choosing someone with a more exciting style or who is eager to fight anyone at a moment's notice over him? It's probably not a smart bet.
Blaydes, though, is an easy-going guy who is true to himself. And he just wants to fight for the title, regardless of who it is against or what people think of how he performs on the way there.
"I'm not in this for glory," Blaydes said. "It's not what wakes me up and gets me working out in the morning. I'm here for money and I know if I have the belt, I get more money. So whatever I have to fight to get the belt, I really don't care. It would help if it were Jon, because it would help my legacy. But that's not the end-all, be-all for me."
