UFC fighter Curtis Blaydes recently appeared on Submission Radio to discuss his upcoming fight against Francis Ngannou, and you can check out the entire interview in the above video player. Below are some interview highlights.
On feeling disrespected by the UFC:
“I still feel disrespected that Brock Lesnar gets to jump in out of the blue. He’s not even ranked. He’s not even officially on the roster and he gets to have a title fight scheduled and he hasn’t proven himself. So yeah, that’s what makes me feel disrespected.”
If Curtis ever got the chance to speak to the UFC about Brock getting the title shot over him:
“No. But I mean, it’s obvious. We’re all adults. They want money. I get it. They want money. I’m not money yet, so it is what it is.”
If Curtis gives Brock any chance against Daniel Cormier:
“No. None whatsoever. I don’t even view Brock as a legitimate MMA fighter.
He was juiced to the gills when he fought in the early to mid-2000’s. So I don’t respect juice heads.”
If he sees MMA as a sport now or entertainment:
“This isn’t a sport. It’s not a sport like the NFL or the NBA or MLB or NHL or any other major sports leagues in the world, because in any of those leagues you can’t just be a guy off the street and just take a guy’s spot on the roster cause you’re famous. That would be like if Will Smith was like, ‘yo, I really like the Lakers, I want to play for the Lakers’. You can’t do that. This isn’t a sport, but it does require athleticism to get the most out of it. So, like you said, I’m in the middle. It’s probably leaning more towards the entertainment. I don’t think skill matters quite as much as marketability.”