It's not every day you can make an impression in the UFC by knocking out a former title challenger, but Curtis Millender was up to the task on February 18 over Thiago Alves at UFC Austin.
After two previous knockouts since October, Millender followed up that performance by finishing off the UFC 100 welterweight title contender. After the fight, the UFC reinforced their faith in Millender by awarding him an additional $50,000 for a "performance of the night" bonus. When he spoke to Fightful.com's James Lynch, Millender discussed his plans for his newfound dough.
"We don't get the 50k until USADA clears me, so I haven't started spending it yet. . This was the first time I was able to pay my coaches what they deserve. I paid the bills for a few months so I could focus on training. Put a down payment on (his car). When I get the 50 I'll probably just pay it off so I don't have to worry about it," said Millender.
Millender also opened up about Jimmy Smith, who he'd had issues with dating back to his time in Bellator MMA.
"My coaches know that I have a love-hate relationship with Jimmy Smith, mostly love now. The Fernando Gonzalez fight, he was commentating. He made me sound like I was scared to fight or the biggest punk because of my fighting style. I'm on the retreat, I'm not the aggressive type. I told him at the meetings 'don't make me look like a punk this time,' He said he could see that, and I fought Thiago and had a dominant performance, and I went to Jimmy and said 'I told you.' I saw him at the hotel and he said he was impressed. That was big for me," Millender said.
In the full interview, Curtis Millender (15-3) recaps his second-round TKO victory over Thiago Alves (22-12) at UFC Fight Night 126 on Feb. 18. Curtis also talks about how plans to spend his fight purse, when he plans to return to the cage and being a pro wrestling fan.
