Blaydes not impressed with ‘Juicehead’ Lesnar getting title shot
Curtis Blaydes: “He’s not even ranked. … We’re all adults. They want money. I get it. They want money. I’m not money yet, so it is what it is.”
With a KO win over Stipe Miocic at UFC 226, Daniel Cormier became champ champ and entered the conversation about greatest of all time. The moment of extraordinary achievement immediately descended into buffoonery, when Brock Lesnar entered the Octagon in full heel mode.
Lesnar was coming off back to back losses in 2010-2011. He had one fight since, which was declared a No Contest after he failed an anti-doping test. It’s a wildly disqualifying background for a title fight, but it will sell a great deal of pay per views.
By contrast, Curtis Blaydes is on a six-fight win streak (technically five, as one win was changed to a No Contest after Blaydes ran afoul of Texas’s antiquated approach to cannabis. The prohibition against cannabis in sports is controversial, but most commissions use WADA’s threshold of 150 ng/mL. By contrast, Texas flags samples higher than 15 ng/mL as a positive test).
During a recent interview with Submission Radio, Blaydes expressed disdain for Lesnar.
I still feel disrespected that Brock Lesnar gets to jump in out of the blue,” said Blaydes. “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.
“We’re all adults. They want money. I get it. They want money. I’m not money yet, so it is what it is.
Blaydes was asked about Lesnar’s chances vs. DC.
None whatsoever,” replied Blaydes. “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.
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.
Blaydes has a rematch vs. the only man to beat him Francis Ngannou, at UFC Fight Night 141 on November 25. With a win, does Blaydes think he gets the title shot?
This is the UFC, so you never know,” he replied. “I may have to fight one more time, I may have to fight two more times. Who knows? I used to think about that, like, my trajectory and who’s next and what’s next. But all it does is you end up feeling disappointed and disrespected when it doesn’t happen. And I don’t wanna be walking around feeling like I’m disrespected. So, I don’t have any expectations for after this fight besides winning. I don’t have any expectations for what’s next.
And how does he win?
Ground and pound, TKO most likely. It won’t be a head kick, it won’t be anything wild. It will be what I do best,” said Blaydes, laughing.
