UFC 225's Curtis Blaydes on contract renegotiation: 'It was pretty easy'

UFC heavyweight Curtis Blaydes indicated he might defect to Bellator if he didn’t get a pay bump in his next contract.

As it turned out, things never got that far. Blaydes said when his manager negotiated and presented the UFC’s next offer, the numbers were right. There was no need to go anywhere else.

“It was pretty easy,” he told MMAjunkie Radio.

In an interview prior to a career-high win over Mark Hunt (13-12-1 MMA, 8-6-1 UFC), Blaydes (10-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC), who’s set to face Alistair Overeem (43-16 MMA, 8-5 UFC) at UFC 225, made it clear he’s in the fight game first and foremost to make money rather than win belts. Nothing has changed since.

“You don’t do anything you’re good at without getting compensation,” he said. “I do want to build a legacy. But if I can only have one or the other, I’ll take the money.”

And while it might have sounded like Blaydes was giving his promoter an ultimatum when he talked about a raise, he said he was simply sticking up for himself and not drawing a line in the sand.

“I don’t make demands of my employers,” he said. “The only thing I came remotely close to demanding was being on the Chicago card, and that was more of a request, and they made it happen. I’m happy, and I have zero complaints.”

Now, Blaydes, the No. 8-ranked fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings moves on to the next phase of his career, fighting the No. 3-ranked Overeem. Although UFC 225’s bout order hasn’t been confirmed, it’s all but certain the two will meet on the pay-per-view main card of the June 9 pay-per-view event at United Center in Chicago.

As a “Windy City” native, Blaydes is happy he gets to perform in front of a hometown crowd. The scenery won’t distract from his main goal, however, which is to put Overeem on his back.

Blaydes had the same plan for Hunt while fighting in Australia, and he sees no reason to change things up.

“Neither one of them wants to go to the ground,” Blaydes said. “Alistair is a little more adept on the ground, but he doesn’t want to be underneath you. The game plan is the same: Use my boxing to get inside for the clinch, a takedown, and do what I have to do on the ground.

“A lot of heavyweights, their footwork gets sloppy as the round goes on, and I try to keep mine as clean as I can. That’s what opens up the takedown – good fundamentals. I don’t think I’m doing anything terribly fancy. I’m just sticking to my basics and looking for little mistakes.”

For more on UFC 225, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.