Curtis Blaydes is back in the Octagon this weekend at UFC Fight Night Nashville, facing Justin Willis in a heavyweight division affair.
Willis has talked a lot of trash heading into the bout, which has given Blaydes some extra motivation for Saturday Night.
“It (the trash talking from Willis) makes it easier, I’m a nice guy. I don’t enjoy…even the fight with Alistair (Overeem), how it ended. I wish the ref stepped it two elbows earlier, I don’t like…I don’t like doing that. We get into that same position with this guy, I hope the ref drags me off of him. I fully envisioned just me getting on top and just destroying him, he’s not going to be getting up,” says Blaydes in an exclusive interview with Fightful’s James Lynch.
Blaydes has finished a lot of fighters in his professional MMA career, with eight of ten wins coming by way of KO/TKO.
The heavyweight contender knows that the loss to Francis Ngannou set him back, but he also knows a few victories can get him into title contention again.
“I think, right now…Junior (Dos Santos) and (Francis) Ngannou and Stipe (Miocic), they all probably have a shorter climb to the top. After my loss to Ngannou, that kind of knocked me back a little bit momentum wise. Me, however impressively that I beat him, I’ll probably need another one before I can ask for a title shot. Which I have no problem with,” says Blaydes.
UFC Fight Night Nashville takes place on Saturday, March 23 from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee with Stephen Thompson and Anthony Pettis headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which streams live on ESPN+.
