UFC heavyweight Curtis Blaydes has no plans on changing his fighting style to please the masses.
Following his unanimous decision victory over Alexander Volkov in June, Blaydes was the subject of heavy criticism for what many considered to be a very underwhelming performance. The two talking points of criticism were centered around Blaydes’ gas tank that failed him in the championship rounds and his wrestling-heavy gameplan. Anyone who has followed Curtis Blaydes knows that wrestling is his biggest weapon, but sometimes he can lay in some ground and pound, but spectators of his performance against Volkov determined that, in this particular bout, he was just “laying.” And Curtis Blaydes couldn’t care less.
“One of the best things for me about what happened then is that now, I don’t give a damn about what anybody says,” Blaydes told Yahoo Sports. “I have a family to provide for and whatever I have to do to accomplish that, that’s what I’m going to do. If that doesn’t fit into people’s idea of how I should fight, that’s not my problem.”
“I could go out there like a madman and swing and punch and give people the bloody, crazy fight they want,” Blaydes explained. “But that’s not the best way for me to fight given my skills. And if I fight that way and people love it and I lose, are they going to pay my bills when I get half of my money? Are they going to care about me when I’m going to the hospital to get my brain checked?”
Curtis Blaydes is very aware of the risks that come with taking heavy blows to the head, which is one of the reasons he opts to wrestle instead of strike for the overwhelming majority of his ring time. That being so, Blaydes’s wrestling-heavy strategy will be particularly wise when he faces knockout artist Derrick Lewis at UFC on ESPN 18 this Saturday because one well-placed sledgehammer from “The Black Beast” could be lifechanging.
What do you think of Curtis Blaydes’ disregard for the opinions of others about his fighting style?
