Curtis Blaydes

Overview

Eight of Curtis Blaydes' 15 UFC wins are knockouts, and not one of them needed a fourth round. For a heavyweight whose reputation is built on takedowns, that's an awkward fact for the "pure wrestler" label. The other seven wins all went the distance.

Blaydes, nicknamed "Razor," fights at heavyweight out of Dutch Style MMA/UFC Gym Lombard in Illinois. His UFC record is 15-6 with one no contest, and his overall professional record across all promotions is 20-6-0. He carries a one-fight win streak into his next fight.

Knockouts on both sides of the ledger. That's the story.

UFC Career

He debuted in April 2016 with a second-round TKO loss to Francis Ngannou, got back in the win column against Cody East, then had a fight with Adam Milstead overturned to a no contest. That start doesn't hint at what followed.

From 2017 to 2018 he beat Daniel Omielanczuk, Aleksei Oleinik, Mark Hunt and Alistair Overeem. Then the Ngannou rematch headlined a card in November 2018 and ended in 45 seconds of round one.

He rebuilt with Justin Willis, Shamil Abdurakhimov and Junior Dos Santos, the last a second-round TKO in a main event. Alexander Volkov went five rounds with him in another main event and lost a unanimous decision. That's four straight wins, his longest streak.

Derrick Lewis ended it with a second-round TKO. A decision over Jairzinho Rozenstruik followed, then two main-event finishes: Chris Daukaus in 17 seconds of round two, Tom Aspinall in 15 seconds of round one. Then Sergei Pavlovich stopped him in round one.

The rest of the run follows the same split. He stopped Jailton Almeida in round two at UFC 299, then lost to Aspinall in a one-minute rematch. A split decision over Rizvan Kuniev was followed by a unanimous decision loss to Josh Hokit. He then took a unanimous decision over Waldo Cortes Acosta, one of the elite opponents of his career.

Five of his six UFC losses are knockouts. Three of the last four came in round one.

Fighting Style

Curtis Blaydes is a wrestler first. He takes opponents down far more often than most UFC fighters, but he also gets taken down more than most himself. He rarely hunts for submissions, and none of his 15 UFC wins came that way.

On the feet he is a busy striker who lands at a good rate and picks his shots well. He is also hard to hit, though he has still been finished by knockout five times.

The finishing pattern is consistent: six of his eight knockout wins came in round two, one in round one and one in round three. The other seven wins went to decision.

Notable Wins

• Junior Dos Santos — KO/TKO, round 2, UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Dos Santos (2020)
• Jailton Almeida — KO/TKO, round 2, UFC 299 (2024)
• Waldo Cortes Acosta — unanimous decision, Noche UFC: Silva vs. Delgado (2026)
• Tom Aspinall — KO/TKO, round 1, UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Aspinall (2022)

Quick Facts

• Division: Heavyweight
• UFC record: 15-6 (1 no contest)
• Professional record (all promotions): 20-6-0
• UFC debut: 2016
• Stance: Orthodox
• Height / reach: 6'4" / 80"
• Team: Dutch Style MMA/UFC Gym Lombard IL
• Born: Naperville, IL, United States