Chris Curtis explains the mindset going into his UFC 282 bout against Joaquin Buckley.
Chris Curtis is a veteran of the sport of mixed martial arts. He is fresh off his 39th professional MMA fight and his 30th win, but he is no stranger to the doubt that comes with having to compete at the highest level. Curtis came to the UFC at 34 years old, a bit late compared to some of his peers but is making the most of his time there. He recently won his UFC 282 bout against Joaquin Buckley by KO and is ready to take on his next challenge.
The fight against Buckley came off of Curtis’ first loss in the UFC. He lost to Jack Hermansson when he filled in on short notice at UFC London in July. Curtis spoke about the doubt he had reeling from that loss and how he gained his confidence back for UFC 282.
“I don’t really get nervous beforehand, leading up to the fight. Saturday, like it’s real stuff, okay like oh my God I’m about to get into a fistfight, but I felt confident I knew we’d worked on what we had to. I think this can’t leading up to it, big shout out to my team, my coaches, because there was a lot of doubt on my part,” he said on The MMA Hour. I don’t care what happens like, I think this was like by 40th pro fight, I think and you still coming after a loss anybody’s gonna question like, am I not as good as I thought I was or was it a one-off mess up? So it’s some of those things in camp, we had a lot of rebuilding to do just polishing up on things.”
The polishing up seemed to work just fine as Curtis was able to get back in the win column and move himself to 4-1 in the UFC. He already has his sights set on what could be next.
Chris Curtis thinks a date with Dricus Du Plessis should be next for him in the UFC
Another man who was victorious at UFC 282 was Dricus Du Plessis. He defeated Darren Till on the same night as Curtis and now he belives this could make for a perfect set up next. Curtis thinks Du Plessis and himself could be the right fit for his next bout.
“Just from what I saw from even this weekend and everything going on in the middleweight division I would be surprised if it’s not Dricus Du Plessis,” he said. “Before this weekend we were ranked one apart I think he gets thelittle bump top 10 maybe but now I’ll be like what 14. So I’ll be surprised if that doesn’t happen. I think it’s a really fun fight. He’s a f–king unit man, like that’s an athletic South African man right there. I’d be shocked if that wasn’t it. If it is it I would love to get a main event on a fight night card. I want five round fight with him.”
Curtis is quickly becoing a fan favorite for his fighting style and his personality outside the cage. He is quickly moving up the ranks and a win over a man like Du Plessis could put him securly inside the top ten of the division.
