Las Vegas, NV – UFC middleweight Chris Curtis has been one to be very active and even have circumstances on his side when taking short notice fights. Now a full-time middleweight Curtis knows every move he makes is now all on him, and every single one counts.
“Sh*t I don’t know when they said I was playing with house money,” Curtis told Cageside Press at UFC X on Thursday. “Fights at 85, short notice, up a weight class. Sh*t I think I was on house money, but now ‘ok you’re legit 85er, oh sh*t I’ve got to play with my money now.’ I think at this point now I’m definitely playing with my own chips.”
Curtis (29-8) is three bouts into his UFC run with wins over Phil Hawes, Brendan Allen and Rodolfo Vieira, respectively.
“At the end of the day I’m a fighter. I love to fight. I’m still going to take the big fights, going to take the big risk, going to try and take chances,” Curtis said.
“My favorite phrase is ‘Who dares, wins’. You can take a chance, you can fail spectacularly or you can f*cking succeed on the biggest stage, so why not?”
This confidence has followed Curtis throughout his professional career, and into his UFC stint.
“You’re in the fight. Too many people go into fights afraid, unsure, I try to convince myself all the time that I’m the main character. This is my story you guys are just in it,” he said.
Curtis enjoys putting on a show from media day, through weigh-ins, and fight night. If you’ve ever seen “Action Man” at weigh-ins you’ve seen his now signature pose.
“Stolen combination of Frank Zane the body builder, and Randy Orton (WWE). Definitely a combo mismatch of other people’s poses, but it works,” said Curtis.
“I’m like a super hero. Got to have that mentality. I try to live my life like I’m the main character. Every main character has to have a pose, right?”
Watch the entire interview and catch Chris Curtis playing ‘Heads Up’ in the video above.
