Las Vegas, NV – Two fights that he was supposed to lose yet both fights he finished his opponents. For UFC middleweight Chris Curtis it meant riding a high that had him beaming throughout the night.
Curtis strolled into his UFC Vegas 44 Post-Fight scrum bouncing up onto the stage.
“I am just riding the weirdest wave right now. It’s kind of weird. Yeah that couldn’t have gone any better, like twice,” Curtis said.
Curtis defeated Brendan Allen via TKO in the second round of their main card bout.
“Everything we thought would happen kind of happened. We knew how he would come out, we knew he would try to jab and circle, throw the kick. He actually stood in the pocket a little bit more than I expected him to, which is nice. We knew he would try to wrestle and it was fine. We knew he would drop for an ankle lock or something weird just because he does weird sh*t. Everything played out exactly the way we though it would.”
Now riding a two-fight winning streak in the UFC, seven in a row dating back to January 2020 in other promotions, Curtis is done with being labeled a journeyman. The label has put a chip on the middleweight’s shoulder.
“That’s a really bad chip. I am really sick of people calling me a journeyman. It is very disrespectful. I’m just like I hate everyone that says it. I’m sure me saying this is going to make people say it more because people are assholes. I take it personally. They’re like ‘He’s a journeyman’ I’m like ‘oh well f*ck you then.’ It happens a lot, it makes me angry.”
Curtis knows that he’s been doubted in both of his last bouts and he’s used that as motivation to perform and prove doubters wrong.
“I’m a guy that follows the polls and all the betting stuff. They’re like ‘Chris Curtis has no chance, I would bet my mother’s and my grandmother’s soul on it.’ I’m like, wow. You feel that strongly about that stuff that much. So it’s just nice to shut people up, again. Everyone said Phil Hawes was a mistake, it can’t happen twice, Curtis sucks, blah blah blah, he’s basic,” Curtis said.
“I promise you people are going to be like, ‘Oh he got lucky or Brendan Allen had pneumonia six years ago and it crept back up’ so I’ll be discredited again, but it’s fine.”
Ultimately Curtis is appreciative of the support of his fans, his family and his teammates. The rest…..well he said it best.
“At this point I’m just going to have to keep being the guy, everybody’s like ‘Oh he sucks’ I beat them up and then they’ll find a reason why he lost. It’s fine, I don’t care. I get both of my checks and hopefully 50k. At this point screw you guys. You either ride with me or not. I’ve got the people around me who will ride with me. I love all my fans out there there’s been so much support, you guys are great.”
“Everybody else can go screw yourself.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 44 post-fight press conference with Chris Curtis above.
