Chris Curtis admits turning down HUGE fight with Alex Pereira before UFC title reign: ‘I definitely said no’
Ahead of his UFC Vegas 102 return, middleweight contender, Chris Curtis has admitted he rejected the offer to share the Octagon with Alex Pereira, revealing he “definitely” turned down the pairing, ahead of the Brazilian’s first UFC clash with rival, Israel Adesanya.
Curtis, who returns to action this weekend on the main card of UFC Vegas 102, most recently headlined an Apex card last year in a rematch against Brendan Allen, dropping a split decision loss after suffering a knee injury in the final round of their five round back-and-forth clash.
And returning to action this weekend, well-travelled contender, Curtis is slated to take on Russian striker, Roman Kopylov, attempting to add the former to recent wins over the likes of Marc Andre-Barriault, and a stunning knockout win over recent UFC Orlando main event winner, Joaquin Buckley.
Chris Curtis admits he turned down massive fight with Alex Pereira
However, ahead of his pairing with Kopylov, veteran challenger, Curtis revealed he had been offered the chance to take on current light heavyweight champion, Pereira before his ascension to the middleweight crown back in 2022 — confirming how he had turned down the pairing immediately.
“I don’t usually say no [to a fight offer] unless your name is Alex Pereira, then I’ve definitely said no,” Chris Curtis told MMA Junkie during a recent interview. “Outside of that, I’m just here to fight people. So whatever comes up, comes up. I just want to have fun fights.”
“They [the UFC] offered me that fight before Bruno Silva, the Bruno Silva fight, or maybe it’s the one Sean (Strickland) took and they offered it to us first,” Chris Curtis explained. “I was like, ‘F*** no. I’m not fighting him on kind of short notice.’ I was like, ‘There’s no way.’ Because not only do I not want to fight him, I’m not doing it on short notice. I say yes to every fight but that one. I was like, ‘I do not have a path to victory here, I’m fine.’”
