Curtis Lionel Blades is an American mixed martial arts fighter. He competes in the UFC heavyweight division, currently ranked number two in that division. The base fighter was Illinois state champion during his studies. In addition, the fighter holds a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He represents the Elevation Fight Team.
Heavyweight fighter Curtis Blades announced that he intends to play for the interim belt in a fight against former title challenger Cyril Gagne. He stated this in an interview after his win over Chris Dokos, in which he talked about his game plan for the fight that ended, expressed his desire to fight for the title, and spoke to Miocic, who was standing in the audience. This wrestler is capable of becoming the heavyweight champion due to his thorny life path and unique fighting style. And if you are interested not only in wrestling but also in cricket betting in India, then by following this link, you will find a lot of helpful information.
Victories and defeats for Curtis Blades:
- Number of fights: 20
- Wins: 16
- KO wins: 11
- Pain victories: 0
- Defeats: 3
- KO defeats: 3
- Disqualification: 1
Curtis Blades’ brief bio
Curtis Lionell Blaydes (born February 18, 1991, Naperville) is a heavyweight mixed martial artist. He has been competing professionally since 2014 and is known for his participation in UFC tournaments.
On February 18, 1991, Curtis Blades was born in Naperville, Illinois. He has four siblings and spent his childhood in the Chicago suburbs.
During his high school years, he began seriously studying wrestling and successfully performed at school competitions; in particular, in his last year of high school, he became a state champion, winning 44 victories without a single defeat. During his four years of study, he won 95 fights at the college level and lost only 18 of them, including the school record for the most take-downs (121). Besides that, he played high school soccer as a fullback.
He went on to wrestle at Northern Illinois University and later, with a 19-2 record, transferred from there to Harper College, where he also became a member of the student wrestling team. In 2012, he won the NJCAA national championship in the heavyweight division but never graduated from college, deciding to devote himself to mixed martial arts. For some time, he performed in amateur MMA, winning eight victories without a single defeat, then moved on to the professionals. Before starting to earn in martial arts, he worked as a security guard in a nightclub.
Curtis Blades’ most notable fights
Curtis has an aggressive wrestling style – he’s always looking for a touchdown, and when he manages to get his opponent to the canvas, he unleashes a devastating ground-and-pound on him. Blades is progressing as an MMA fighter. He managed to outbox Junior Dos Santos in a recent fight and knock out the Brazilian. The fighter has two “Performance of the Night” bonuses to his credit, having fought Cody East and Alistair Overeem.
Career
Curtis Blades began his career as a professional fighter in 2014 and has won five fights on the regional scene. He got all the wins by technical knockouts, and already in 2016, with a record of 5-0 fighter debuted in the UFC.
The debutant was welcomed by Cameroonian knockout Francis Ngannou and immediately inflicted the first defeat of his career. But then Blades went on a six-fight winning streak: it included wins over Alexey Oleynik, Mark Hunt, and Alistair Overeem.
After that success, the UFC offered Curtis a rematch with Ngannou, but Francis was stronger the second time. After the second loss, Blades defeated Justin Willis, Shamil Abdurakhimov, Junior dos Santos and Alexander Volkov.
Curtis Blade on Cyril Gan.
American fighter Curtis Blades said at a press conference after the UFC on ESPN 33 tournament that he wants to see former UFC interim heavyweight champion, Cyril Gan:
“A win over Cyril Gan, who was on an impressive winning streak and just fought for the title, would make me the next contender for the championship belt – the same goes for Stipe Miocic. Stipe is the greatest heavyweight of all time, and he deserved a title rematch a long time ago. But if he dares to come out against me and I beat him, the title shot should be mine. I have to fight for the championship belt if I win Stipe or Ghana.
Years ago, when I was starting, and I wasn’t perfect, we trained with Stipe, and back then, he destroyed me in every sparring session. He outclassed me on several levels. I was helping him prepare for his fight with Gonzaga, which was back in 2012. I had just started my amateur career that year. I have a lot of respect for Stipe, but I believe I’ve gotten to his level now. I think I can move him and compete with him in the standup. I have great footwork, great coaches, and I’m ready to compete with anyone in the division in the rack.”
Specialist Review
Former MMA referee and current Bellator commentator John McCarthy believe UFC ranked heavyweight Curtis Blades is capable of winning the title.
“Curtis is capable of becoming a heavyweight champion anywhere. He has a lot of skills, and he’s perfect. Blades has good wrestling and good standup; he’s an intelligent guy.
Curtis Blades is one fight away from becoming champion. So should he leave the UFC? No, not if he wants to stay there. “One thing I can say about him, I don’t believe Curtis should change his style and approach to fighting,” said John McCarthy.
Recall that Curtis Blades had his last fight last week, beating Chris Dukas by TKO in the second round in the main event of UFC on ESPN 33. Blades extended his winning streak to two fights, closing out an early loss to Derrick Lewis last February.
Fight with Jon Jones.
UFC heavyweight Curtis Blades wants to fight former bantamweight champion, Jon Jones.
“I think in terms of styles, I’m the most formidable opponent for Jones at heavyweight because I will fight. He knows that Francis Ngannou, Cyril Gan, Stipe Miocic, and Derrick Lewis will fight him in the standup.
Jones knows that he can stay in the long range with them, which he’s very good at. Of course, you have to wedge when fighting an opponent with an arm span like Johns, but these guys won’t do that.
Lewis doesn’t want to wedge, neither does Ngannou – they want to knock their opponent out, but Jones will stay at long range and won’t give them that opportunity. Instead, he’ll tear them apart at range.
With me, John will worry about me catching his leg, and it will make him hesitate. That’s always the case with Jairzinho Rosenstruyk, Alexander Volkov, and Junior Dos Santos. They couldn’t act aggressively against me because they didn’t want me to move them to the ground,” Blades said.
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