Curtis Blaydes says he'll wait for Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic winner (Video)
Curtis Blaydes is willing to wait for his title shot if he gets past Sergei Pavlovich.
On Saturday, April 22, live from the UFC APEX, two top heavyweight contenders clash for a potential title shot. No. 3 ranked knockout specialist Sergei Pavlovich (17-1) has a huge task ahead of him when he faces the No. 4 ranked heavyweight Curtis Blaydes (17-3 (1NC).
While Pavlovich will be making the walk towards the Octagon for his first title contender shot, this is a spot that Blaydes has found himself in multiple times. The NJCAA All-American has fought all kinds of heavyweights since making his UFC debut in 2016.
The likes of Junior Dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, and Jairzinho Roenstruik have all tasted defeat at the hands of Blaydes yet, he has still not found himself in a heavyweight title fight. He is currently on a three-fight win streak and some even thought that he deserved to be fighting Jon Jones for the title, not Ciryl Gane.
Blaydes knows that a win this weekend would guarantee a title shot once Jones and Stipe Miocic eventually meet. He has unfortunately been passed by before, which is why he made it clear during his pre-event interview that he is willing to wait as long as he needs to for that elusive championship fight.
Curtis Blaydes will wait and fight anyone for the title. Even Brock Lesnar
Although the heavyweight title picture is more resolved than it was half a year ago, we are still waiting to find out when Jones will actually fight Miocic. Rumors circled around UFC 290 during International Fight Week and seemed reasonably legitimate but the fight never materialized.
It appears November is the next likely date but Jones has recently spoken about his possible retirement if he were to beat the heavyweight G.O.A.T.
Blaydes doesn't really care.
"I'll wait. I'll wait for a title shot. I don't care who it is. If it's Jon (Jones). If it's Stipe (Miocic). If they bring in Brock Lesnar...I'll wait" he told the media on Wednesday.
And he's already thought about he he can beat Jones, if that fight does happen for him.
“The wrestling I present, it’s a problem,” Blaydes said. “If you don’t think so, then you don’t really understand MMA. The ability for me to take the fight from on the feet to the ground when I want to puts more mental pressure on my opponents that have to think about it. Even if I don’t actually shoot, you know it’s an option and it’s something for you to think about. I use that and I think I can use that against Jon.”
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