Exclusive – Chris Curtis’ split decision loss to Brendan Allen came down to ’15 seconds of bad optics’
After a 25-minute war with Brendan Allen, Chris Curtis believes his controversial split decision loss came down to 15 seconds of bad optics.
By all accounts, ‘The Action Man’ was on his way to a victory over ‘All In’ in the UFC Vegas 90 headliner. Then suddenly, disaster struck with only seconds on the clock as Curtis suffered an injury to his leg. That allowed Allen to unleash a last-second flurry that likely swayed the decision in his favor.
“Optically, I thought there were a lot of exchanges that I was winning,” Curtis said in a LowKick MMA exclusive interview with Mike Owens. “I feel I’m doing more damage. Responding less. I was pushing the fight more. I felt like I was being the aggressor.
“From what I’ve heard from a lot of people is that in the fifth round, I was up. I was winning and when my hamstring went out, it presented a really bad picture. He threw a flurry at the end, but nothing landed. I got hit in the shoulder with a knee. I didn’t get hurt or anything, but from an optics perspective, I’m the guy on the fence surviving now.“
“I think the optics of 15 seconds outdid the 4:45 which kinda sucks,” Curtis added. “It’s not how you want it to go, but you don’t control the judges and the judges are going to default to what they see most of the time. These guys are making what, $300 a f*cking [show]. They’re not experts in this usually. It just sucks, but optics play a huge part and it sucks to lose on 15 seconds of bad optics.”
Chris Curtis maintains his top 15 ranking following questionable loss
Instead of moving into the middleweight top ten with a win, Curtis continues to cling to his spot as the No. 14 ranked contender in the division.
‘The Action Man’ also revealed the gruesome details regarding his hamstring injury, including a potential timeline for return, which you can read all about right here.
Watch the full exclusive interview with Chris Curtis below:
