Since joining the UFC back in 2021, middleweight fighter Chris Curtis has been the true definition of a company man but there was one occasion when he turned down a big opportunity.
When Chris Curtis made his UFC debut at UFC 268, fans had high hopes for ‘The Action Man’ after he scored a huge KO against Phil Hawes.
The 37-year-old then went on to pick up a few more wins and eventually found himself in the top 15 of the 185lb rankings.
Chris Curtis turned down a fight against Alex Pereira
During the time that the Xtreme Couture product was emerging up the rankings, Brazilian kickboxing ace, Alex Pereira was also turning heads in the 185lb division.
Curtis makes his return this coming Saturday at UFC Vegas 101 after a long layoff due to a foot injury to take on Roman Kopylov.
Whilst being under the UFC banner, Curtis prides himself on being a fighter who will fight anyone and challenge himself against the best, however, he has admitted he did, in fact, turn down a fight against ‘Poatan’.
“I don’t usually say no unless your name is Alex Pereira, then I’ve definitely said no,” Curtis told MMAJunkie.
“Outside of that, I’m just here to fight people. So whatever comes up, comes up. I just want to have fun fights,” he continued.
‘The Action Man’ explained that he was offered the fight against the former middleweight champion in 2022 just after Pereira’s win over Bruno Silva and even though ‘Poatan’ was in his second year in the promotion, he knew to stay away.
“They offered me that fight before Bruno Silva, the Bruno Silva fight, or maybe it’s the one Sean (Strickland) took and they offered it to us first. I was like, ‘F*** no. I’m not fighting him on kind of short notice.’ I was like, ‘There’s no way.’ Because not only do I not want to fight him, I’m not doing it on short notice.
“I say yes to every fight but that one. I was like, ‘I do not have a path to victory here, I’m fine.'”
Chris Curtis hopeful of rebooking a fight against Kevin Holland
The outspoken UFC middleweight was scheduled to take on fellow loudmouth, Kevin Holland this past October at UFC 307, but his aforementioned foot injury forced him out of the bout.
Ahead of his clash with Kopylov, Curtis has admitted that he would like his fight against Holland to be rebooked if ‘The Trailblazer’ can beat Reinier de Ridder at UFC 311.
“I don’t care about any particular matchup… I like Kevin. I’m hoping he wins. If they put it back together, fine. If not, whatever. I’m just here to fight people,” he continued.