Curtis Blaydes is coming off of a third round knockout victory over Alistair Overeem on the preliminary card of UFC 225.
The top ranked fighter wants one of two things next, either a rematch with Francis Ngannou or a shot at the UFC Heavyweight Title.
“I’m only open to [taking another fight] it if it’s (Francis) Ngannou,” Blaydes said on The MMA Hour. “That’s really the only one that wouldn’t really be about the money. That would be about, like, I just want to run that back. And I’m not [making excuses], he won fair and square. I let him hit my eye too many times and that’s what happens, the doctors have to be involved. So he did a great job, but I would like to get a full 15 minutes with him. But that’s only if I don’t get the title shot, because I think I’m ready. I think you can make the argument it makes sense based upon the rankings and the current matchups. Ngannou’s already had his turn, and to be honest, he didn’t even look good. And I think me beating Alistair in the fashion I did is a bit, on paper, looks better than (Alexander) Volkov beating (Fabricio) Werdum in the way he did. Not taking anything away from Volkov, I just think my win is slightly better than his, so I think it puts me ahead of him.”
Ngannou is currently set to fight Derrick Lewis at UFC 226, while Stipe Miocic is also defending the heavyweight title at the same event.
When it comes to the main event of UFC 226, a confident Blaydes predicts Miocic will retain the UFC Heavyweight Title.
“He would be my pick,” Blaydes said. “Because I think his length, his kickboxing, he’s got a pretty head good kick. We’ve already seen DC’s been a bit susceptible to head kicks in his last fight; not his last fight, but his last one with Jon Jones. The height, he’s already down there, you don’t really have to bring [the kick] up too high. And I think DC is the better wrestler, but I think Stipe’s boxing will offset the slight advantage DC has in the wrestling department. I think it goes to Stipe regardless.”
Blaydes currently sits at #2 in the UFC Heavyweight Division Rankings, with Ngannou being the only fighter ahead of him.
