Curtis Blaydes boasts his ability to defeat UFC king Jon Jones: ‘I have all the things you need’
Ahead of his UFC Vegas 71 main event fight with Sergei Pavlovich this weekend in Las Vegas, surging heavyweight contender, Curtis Blaydes has touted his ability to hand newly minted undisputed champion, Jon Jones his first loss in the weight division.
Returning to the Octagon this weekend in ‘Sin City’, Blaydes, the current #4 ranked heavyweight contender, is scheduled to headline against streaking Russian knockout artist, Pavlovich – in a potential title-eliminator at the heavyweight limit.
Most recently headlining UFC Fight Night London back in July of last year, Blaydes managed to land a TKO victory over Tom Aspinall inside just 15 seconds of the opening round after the Atherton native suffered a knee injury.
The triumph improved Blaydes to 3-0 in his last three outings, following a prior stoppage win over Chris Daukaus, and a unanimous decision success against Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
Curtis Blaydes boasts his ability to defeat Jon Jones in potential future fight
Weighing up the potential of a future championship showdown against Endicott native, Jones, Blaydes touted his attributes and claimed he could prove to be the new champion’s kryptonite.
“For all those reasons [I’m the toughest matchup] – I have the size, I have the wrestling, I have the athleticism, I have the speed, I have the agility,” Curtis Blaydes told MMA Fighting. “I have all the things you need to match up with a talent like Jon Jones.”
“I know he has the reach, his arms are longer than my reach,” Curtis Blaydes explained. “I would have to find a way to get in that zone type of range and I might have to use elbows, I might heave to get in the clinch, but I believe I could take him down. I believe once I take anyone down, the odds are in my favor. I think that would be a fantastic matchup and I hope it happens. I believe in it a lot more right now than I did a year and a half ago.”
Winning vacant heavyweight gold back in March of this year, Jones headlined UFC 285 – stopping former interim division champion, Ciryl Gane with a one-sided opening round guillotine choke submission win.
