Media Curtis Blaydes calling out the UFC for protecting Derrick Lewis

GEMMAYUI said:
HW division, perhaps second only to FW, is the most tedious division in the UFC right now, and none of these fights are exciting. I look forward to only one thing in this division, and that is Ngannou, now much more sensible in terms of take down defense and cardio, knocking Stipe out cold, and i don't even like Ngannou.
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That's pretty unfair to Stipe, Reem and DC, all of their fights are usually exciting.
 
Ole is in line behind Francis for a TS if he wins this fight.
 
Lewis has been pretty lucky. The Ngannou fight was one of the weirdest/shadiest in UFC history, then the Volkov KO win was a hail Mary in the last 10 seconds of a fight he was losing. At the same time Blaydes was on a 6 fight win streak with no weirdness or controversy involved. But Lewis gets the title shot and in the same month Blaydes has to rematch the one guy that beat him, and gets derailed as a result. So you can kind of understand the guys grievances. He would probably beat Lewis and would have likely put on a better performance against DC too.
 
Who are all these fictional top fighters clamouring to make a name off Lewis that the UFC has shielded him from?

"He won't fight me so they're protecting him." Motivated reasoning at its finest from Blades here.
 
TheItalianStallion said:
With no context his level of opposition looks good. The Francis fight was a staring contest and there was no real winner, He wasn't looking good against Volkov who later went to a close decision with Greg fucking Hardy, DC and JDS both destroyed him. Willis is a more game opponent than Lewis' last 2 imo
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Dude, he fought #1 and #2 contenders, a champ and a former champ, meanwhile blaydes was getting KOd by frank, fighting big titties and whoever the dude was he fought before JDS, Blaydes is coming off as an asshole as usual, it's especially funny considering the common opponents they have fought like Francis, JDS and now Volkov, is Lewis is getting protected then what does it says that Blaydes is getting almost the same opponents as he is...
 
TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle said:
Lewis has been pretty lucky. The Ngannou fight was one of the weirdest/shadiest in UFC history, then the Volkov KO win was a hail Mary in the last 10 seconds of a fight he was losing. At the same time Blaydes was on a 6 fight win streak with no weirdness or controversy involved. But Lewis gets the title shot and in the same month Blaydes has to rematch the one guy that beat him, and gets derailed as a result. So you can kind of understand the guys grievances. He would probably beat Lewis and would have likely put on a better performance against DC too.
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I like BB but agree Blaydes deserved it more.

Derrick is a fun fighter usually and I can see why they promote him is a certain fashion. Not saying I agree with their tactics but I see why they keep him in the spotlight. His matches are all over the rankings - top 10, top 5, top 30, no real rhyme or reason.

I do hope Blaydes gets his shot at some point but will likely be forced to face Ngannou again. DC will be out, doubt he will get promoted to fight Stipe, etc.

Looking forward to a good showing from the Razor tonight!
 
xP said:
I have to disagree with Blaydes here. Lewis has fought 6 of the top 15, 4 of the top ten, and his next opponent is #11. Guys in the top five can't just fight other guys in the top 5 over and over again. Sometimes you just gotta fight somebody or you're going to just sit on the shelf.

Ivanov is a very respectable opponent coming off TWO losses. The Latifi fight was more of a one of fight, it's not like he has any kind of history of fights like that. Oleinik is a reasonable fight to take.

I'm sure this is Blaydes just trying to get that fight because he is an awful matchup for Lewis and getting Lewis while he still has a good rank is beneficial.
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I agree with this take. Plus, last I checked Ivanov and Latifi both have strong wrestling/sambo backgrounds that in theory would've made them nightmare matchups for someone with admittedly subpar ground game like Lewis.

Now he’s going against a dangerous grappler (the best in the division alongside Werdum) who could choke him out. Lewis has overpowered his past two opponents and might do the same to his next, but that's the heavyweight division. Strength/power is the deciding factor in a heavyweight fight more often than not.

In short, Lewis isn't taking favorable matchups, he's just gotten in better shape and is strong as an ox.
 
Mahkor said:
Dude, he fought #1 and #2 contenders, a champ and a former champ, meanwhile blaydes was getting KOd by frank, fighting big titties and whoever the dude was he fought before JDS, Blaydes is coming off as an asshole as usual, it's especially funny considering the common opponents they have fought like Francis, JDS and now Volkov, is Lewis is getting protected then what does it says that Blaydes is getting almost the same opponents as he is...
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He went 1-2 in those fights. I don't even consider his "win" over Ngannou a victory as it was a fucking staring contest and Ngannou would KO him stiff in a rematch. Blaydes also destroyed JDS who destroyed Lewis
 
TheItalianStallion said:
He went 1-2 in those fights. I don't even consider his "win" over Ngannou a victory as it was a fucking staring contest and Ngannou would KO him stiff in a rematch. Blaydes also destroyed JDS who destroyed Lewis
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Is not about his performances is about the matchups and the ridiculous idea that the UFC is protecting him.
 
I mean, the Laftifi fight was weird but I dont see a problem with Inavov at the time or Oleinik.

If Beast and Blaydes both win it makes sense for them to fight next anyway with Stipe fighting DC again and Ngganou waiting for his shot.
 
Mahkor said:
Is not about his performances is about the matchups and the ridiculous idea that the UFC is protecting him.
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I mean it depends if would you call Latifi (an obese middleweight on a 3 fight losing streak) and Blagoy Ivanov legit HW contenders? I never said they were protecting him his whole career just his last 2 fights have been against none legit HWs
 
You say that he's not a top 5 heavyweight yet you complain that he's not getting top opponents? <{Joewithit}>

Were they protecting him when they sent him against DC and JDS? This is just Blaydes being upset not getting a larger showcase by fighting Lewis. He should more concerned with figuring out how to get past Francis in the next few years.
 
Maybe Blaydes should get back to us on his opinions regarding Lewis when he gets a win over Ngannou....
 
Alxair said:
He should more concerned with figuring out how to get past Francis in the next few years.
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I think his strategy for Ngannou is "fake an injury if they send me a contract with his name on it" and I say this as a fan of Blaydes...

Jawth said:
If Beast and Blaydes both win it makes sense for them to fight next anyway with Stipe fighting DC again and Ngganou waiting for his shot.
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I like this. It makes sense if Stipe wins; he rematches Ngannou next while Curtis and Derrick fight for the next title challenger slot. If it comes down to Stipe or Franky pulling out and someone needing to fill in to save a card, I would argue Curtis is more deserving than BB.

The question with this scenario is if DC wins; it's basically 100% guaranteed he will vacate the belt. Does Stipe still get an automatic chance to try and reclaim it against Francis? Or does he fall back in line?
 
TheItalianStallion said:
https://empiresportsmedia.com/ufc/c...-derrick-lewis-with-alexander-volkov-matchup/

I honestly have to agree. Since losing to both DC and JDS dominantly we all know Derrick Lewis isn't a top 5 HW. Since then they've fed him 2 out of shape bald midgets with ineffective grappling and 0 KO power. Also Lewis vs Overeem (the guy who finished Oleynik in 1 round) was the clear fight to make next not Oleynik a dude ranked outside the top 10. Couldn't be a more cherry picked opponent for him but hey it's heavyweight after all where logic goes out the window
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Yeah hes right. But I like the Derrick and he is a funny entertaining guy. Not everyone fighting has to be a world beater title challenging guy. There is room for guys like Derrick to have fun winnable fights and get paychecks.
 
If you think about it Lewis is exactly the type of guy the UFC would want as champ; he's got the look, 1 punch ko power, active on social media, interactive with fans, funny, charismatic, etc. Blaydes, probably the exact opposite.. Kinda quiet, relatively boring, predominantly a wrestler, doesn't trash talk, etc. It's pretty obvious but Curtis is 100% right.
 
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