Glendale — Heavyweight Curtis Blaydes looks to bounce back at this Saturday’s Noche UFC, where he’d been paired up with Waldo Cortes-Acosta in a battle of top ten talents.
Ahead of the fight, Blaydes (19-6, 1NC) was inducted into the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) Hall of Fame, a unique tribute honoring his amateur wrestling days.
“That was dope. It was unexpected, because I was in the NJCAA in 2012. So I’d almost like, not forgotten about it, but I didn’t think there was anything else that was going to come out of that,” Blaydes told Cageside Press during Wednesday’s Noche UFC media day. “And, I was only in the NJCAA for a year. So I didn’t know what were the prerequisites to get into the Hall of Fame.”
Blaydes was happy to see his old coach on hand to walk him out for the honor, “and I enjoyed having an excuse to go and get back into the wrestling world. Because I’ve been a little removed. I would like to get back into it, RAF [Real American Freestyle] and all that. But it was just a happy experience, and I got to bring my wife and my daughters. That was dope.”
As far as possibly going back and coaching wrestling when his fighting days are done, “I’m open to that,” stated Blaydes. “What else do you do with all the skills and knowledge you have, besides pass it on? Otherwise you just hoarde it just to hoarde it.”
Blaydes is coming off a Fight of the Year contender with Josh Hokit, with the controversial Hokit coming away with the victory. The fight turned into a slugfest, and propelled Hokit to stardom in his emergent UFC career.
Asked whether anything about the fight took him by surprise, Blaydes focused on the lack of wrestling.
“We did not expect him to, he just removed to grappling out of his whole offense. That was unexpected.” Blaydes noted that they had spent a lot of time in camp working on single-leg defense, only for Hokit to ignore takedowns. “It didn’t hit me until the middle of the second round, like ‘oh he’s not going to shoot, he’s not going to wrestle.’ And that’s when, by then, it was what it was. It was stand up, rock ’em, sock ’em. That wasn’t the game plan going into it.”
Blaydes also admitted that there was “a little bit of animosity” between the pair, something most fans could no doubt pick up on.
“He’s not the most enjoyable person, and the whole week leading up into it, I think there was a lot of that. Like, I don’t like this guy, and if he’s going to win, he’s going to have to knock me out. Which, he didn’t have to. I think I won that one, but that’s what led to that type of fight. There was a little bit of f- you energy form both of us.”
As for Cortes-Acosta, “I like that he’s a traditional heavyweight. He’s going to huck that overhand, and he’s just hoping to land it,” said Blaydes. “He really, really believes in it. I get why he really believes in it, it’s brought a lot of success, but this is an archetype I’ve had a lot of experience with. But I feel comfortable that I have the answers to get the W.”
Watch the full Noche UFC media day appearance by Curtis Blaydes above.
