Curtis Blaydes shot down any chance of a fight against Ciryl Gane next, explaining how the Frenchman has already “missed that bus.”
Curtis ‘Razor’ Blaydes earned himself an enormous KO victory at UFC 299 in Miami when he stopped surging Brazilian Jailton Almeida with some of the most vicious hammer fists seen in recent memory.
Speaking on what’s next, Blaydes is hopeful of a rematch against now-interim champion Tom Aspinall and dismissed any possibility of a showdown against fellow heavyweight contender Ciryl Gane.
Blaydes addresses Gane fight rumors, and it’s bleak for ‘Bon Gamin’
Whilst Blaydes says he has “unfinished business” with Tom Aspinall, many fans have been calling for the American to face former interim holder Ciryl Gane in his next fight, following his stunning KO of Jailton Almeida last night.
However, speaking with media at the post-fight press conference, Blaydes dismissed any possibility of fighting Gane in his next contest, saying that the Frenchman’s previous refusals to fight are now coming back to haunt him.
When asked if any other fight aside from Aspinall made sense, Blaydes responded: “Nope, but it won’t be [Gane]. I feel like you guys are all trying to edge me towards Gane, that’s not happening.”
“I asked for him already in the past, he missed that bus. If it’s not Aspinall we’ll figure it out, I’m not going to make concrete decisions right now because I don’t know what’s going on – I haven’t even looked at my phone all day.”
Gane is currently ranked as the #2 heavyweight in the world, with Blaydes at #5 – although we are expecting ‘Razor’ to move up closer to the pinnacle of the division when the rankings are updated next week.
“But if it’s not Aspinall, then we’ll go from there. It ain’t going to be Gane though, that’s a no…You reap what you sow, I’ll leave it at that.”
There was also some speculation that Blaydes had landed an uppercut in the moments before the finishing sequence against Almeida, but it turns out that ‘Razor’ had a plan all along for the takedown threat:
“[It was] just the hammer fists. When he shoots, we noticed that he shoots with his head down. So, I used my belly to push down on the back of his head and he wasn’t able to drive up, the body goes where the head goes.”
“I made his head look to the ground, he couldn’t drive up into me and I got the hammer fists off,” explained the 33-year-old.
Thanks to his UFC 299 victory, Curtis Blaydes moves to 17-4 as a professional with 13 wins coming by way of knockout.