No One Likes Being Number Two
By Eddie Sanchez
UFC Fight Night: Curtis Blaydes vs Derrick Lewis is two days away and many fans are enthusiastic to see the rankings at top of the Heavyweight division get more clear. This bout is between the second and fourth ranked Heavyweights in the world respectively, and there is a lot of talk about #2 Curtis Blaydes heading into this matchup.
Being the second ranked fighter in a division is an amazing accomplishment. Sporting a 14-2 record, with both losses coming at the hands of Francis Ngannou, should be nothing to scoff at. However, his fighting style is greatly criticized by the masses.
These criticisms are not just from the casual fans that make up most of MMA-Twitter, these concerns are shared by the UFC’s own Dana White.
Following his June 2020 victory over Alex Volkov, Dana Shared the following comments in the post-fight press conference: “I like Curtis Blaydes, but Curtis Blaydes has the wrong attitude as far as I’m concerned.”
“I don’t have anything against the kid at all, but when you talk (expletive) like he talked this week, you better come in and whoop somebody’s ass when you talk (expletive) like that. When you talk the (expletive) that he did and perform like he did tonight? You look stupid.”
“Yeah, he won. He talked a lot of (expletive) coming in this week. I don’t think you talk the (expletive) he talked this week and come in and perform like that. Talking about rag-dolling people, and he’s not getting paid, and yada yada, he should be getting the title shot. He gassed out at the end of the third round, made it to the fifth and won the fight. Yeah, he won.”
Those are some harsh words from a man you should not want to disappoint. So yes, Curtis Blaydes is the second ranked fighter in the division, but the opportunity to secure a title shot is not very clear.
First, he will need to defeat Derrick Lewis. Given the vast contrast of styles, Blaydes should be able to find himself victorious if he is able to evade the early onslaught from Lewis and bring the fight to the ground.
Beyond this matchup though, even if victorious, there are other hurdles in the way. Miocic-Ngannou II is scheduled for March 27 and Jon Jones’ inevitable debut in the Heavyweight division is already being lined up for the next title defense.
At the earliest, these two bouts would take us to the third quarter of 2021, and an additional title defense would likely not come until the end of 2021 at the absolute earliest.
If you ask Curtis Blaydes though, he doesn’t share much concern or ill-will with his perception within the Heavyweight hierarchy. “I just roll my eyes,” Blaydes told MMA Fighting when asked about the current state of the heavyweight division.
“I’m not old so I’m not in a rush so I’ll get there eventually. Honestly, it’s not even a guarantee that Jon will take the fight cause I heard he also has his eyes on the winner of the Izzy versus Blachowicz fight. If he’s got his eyes on that one, he’s not all in on this heavyweight matchup so it’s not a guarantee. I’m not worried about it. If it does happen, I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
“Worst case, I’ve always iterated, if I have to clean out the division, I will. I will do that. I have a family at home that I provide for so the more active I am, the better for them. The ultimate goal is the belt but we’ll get there.”
This is an admirable outlook from a man who is often criticized from fans, the media and Dana White. Although many would look at his situation unfavorably if placed in a similar circumstance, there are some benefits that Blaydes and his team can take advantage of.
As we all know, the UFC is a business; a very lucrative and successful one at that. Often when there are blockbuster Super Fights available, the tradeoff for the promotion is side-stepping those who have put in the work to earn a title shot. In this case, this would be Blaydes who is 9-1 in his past ten fights and has victories over four currently-ranked opponents during that time.
Given that Blaydes has an understanding of this, and the UFC has the ultimate Super Fight on deck immediately following Stipe-Miocic II (Jon Jones versus the victor), Curtis Blaydes and his team can use this opportunity to negotiate marginal pay increases to help clear out the top of the division.
From Curtis Blaydes perspective this would mean him defeating men like Rosenstruik, or rematches with Volkov and Abdurakhimov.
The UFC could easily move like snakes in the grass and use Curtis Blaydes as a weed-trimmer of sorts; even if this means Blaydes cutting himself out of the title-picture.
The UFC loves rising stars and if you offer Dana White and company truth serum, they would likely admit that they would like to see the following happen: Cyril Gane (7-0) victorious on February 27 against Jairzinho Rosenstruik (11-1). Then (hopefully in their eyes) Cyril Gane victorious against whomever is victorious between Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis this weekend (The Bad Promoter is predicting Curtis Blaydes).
This sequence of events would knock Lewis, Rosenstruik and Blaydes from title convention in the near future and Ciryl Gane would likely find himself as the number one-or-two contender in the division. The UFC could then cash in on some amazing storylines with a fresh face.
This would also provide the most optimal situation for Francis Ngannou if he is unsuccessful against Stipe Miocic in March. In this hypothetical scenario, if his three counterparts are also unsuccessful in the near future, then Ngannou would still be in striking distance for another title shot as well.
This would be extremely beneficial to the UFC because they of course would like nothing less than to see Jon Jones win the Heavyweight title. While Miocic-Ngannou is a toss-up at this point, I am fairly confident that the Heavyweight-great Miocic will defeat The Predator.
A Miocic-Jones title fight would be legacy defining. Although this would almost surely be the hope of the UFC, they would also love to see Jones-versus-Ngannou as well at some point.
The sequence of events involving Curtis Blaydes and Ciryl Gane would clear up much of the division and set up those intriguing title opportunities.
As always, we must not forget that there are many dominos in this situation. The hopeful plan can disintegrate just as quickly as it was imagined.
Fortunately, over the next month and a half we will have answers for a lot of these men mentioned. It all starts with Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis this weekend though. Even if Blaydes is victorious, he is still far from headlining a title shot. Being ranked number two only gets you so close I suppose.
