Curtis Blaydes is heading back to the drawing board.
The longtime heavyweight contender hit another roadblock to his dream of becoming UFC heavyweight champion on Saturday, losing in just 60 seconds in his shot at the interim title against Tom Aspinall in UFC 304’s co-main event. It was a disappointing showing from Blaydes, who has now suffered first-round knockout losses in two of his past three bouts.
Early Sunday morning, Blaydes released his first statement addressing the loss on his Instagram Stories, which can be seen and read below.
Sorry guys, I got greedy when I touched him early and threw out the amazing gameplan that my coaches Vinnie Lopez [and] Cody Donovan came up with that would’ve worked I’m sure of it. No excuses Tom was on point tonight I know this isn’t the end of my journey but damnit, I know I’m better than tonight’s performance. I appreciate all the support truly it’s been an eye opening experience to have so many ppl rocking with me
Blaydes, 33, entered the bout as MMA Fighting’s No. 4 ranked heavyweight in the world.
The Illinois native has won 13 of his 19 octagon bouts since debuting in the UFC in 2016, beating the likes of Jailton Almeida, Aspinall, Alexander Volkov, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
UFC 304 took place on July 27 at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
Watch highlights of Aspinall’s 60-second win over Blaydes here.
