Curtis Blaydes has no problem remaining active and beating everyone to prove he deserves a title shot.
In the main event of UFC Vegas 19, Blaydes is set to face Derrick Lewis in a very intriguing matchup. If “Razor” wins, he probably doesn’t get a title shot because of the fact Jon Jones has been promised the next title shot. For Blaydes, he says he has no problem just fighting everyone until there is no denying him as the next title challenger.
“I just roll my eyes,” Blaydes told MMA Fighting when asked about the current state of the heavyweight division. “I’m not old so I’m not in a rush so I’ll get there eventually. Honestly, it’s not even a guarantee that Jon will take the fight cause I heard he also has his eyes on the winner of the Izzy (Israel Adesanya) versus [Jan] Blachowicz fight. If he’s got his eyes on that one, he’s not all in on this heavyweight matchup so it’s not a guarantee. I’m not worried about it. If it does happen, I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
“Worst case, I’ve always iterated, if I have to clean out the division, I will. I will do that. I have a family at home that I provide for so the more active I am, the better for them. The ultimate goal is the belt but we’ll get there.”
If Curtis Blaydes has to continue fighting the top contenders, he believes by the time he gets the title shot, he will face Stipe Miocic. He expects the champ to beat Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones and Razor know the fight would be intriguing.
“Me versus Stipe is also a great fight because I’m still going to wrestle him,” Blaydes explained. “A lot of guys going up against another great wrestler like [Kamaru] Usman against Colby [Covington], both just mutually agreed ‘we’re not going to use our wrestling.’ I’m not going to do that. I’m still going to wrestle. I’m still going do to that. It’s a universal game plan.
“If [Stipe] defends [takedowns] like Junior did, I guess we’ll change up the game plan but he has to earn that.”