Curtis Blaydes believes the next title shot is his after UFC 225.
At just 27 years of age, Curtis Blaydes is the young blood the UFC's heavyweight division has been crying out for. After brutally knocking out Alistair Overeem, Blaydes feels next up is the winner of Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic.
The fight started off slow, with no strikes landed in the opening three minutes. Overeem stayed on the outside, but a takedown from Blaydes brought the fight to the mat. Blaydes kept the pressure from the top position to keep his adversary on the ground until the buzzer sounded.
It was Overeem who arguably had the better showing in the second round. He rocked Blaydes with a right hand and had decent submission attempts on the mat. Blaydes started connecting with his stand up in the second and got some good punches in as the clock wound down of a very competitive frame.
Overeem ate a huge knee to the body defending a takedown at the start of the final round. He responded with a body kick, but the fresher Blaydes could smell the finish. Blaydes went to work with a beautiful flurry before changing levels and scoring the takedown. Overeem had a brief submission attempt, but the American asserted his dominance in the grappling department and began unloading serious ground-and-pound.
Blaydes finished the fight with five devastating elbows, with the last one opening up a huge gash on Overeem's face. Referee Dan Miragliotta finally stepped in to award Blaydes the TKO finish at the 2:56 mark of the final round. However, in truth, he could have stopped it earlier to spare Overeem unnecessary damage.
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After the bout, Blaydes let the promotion know exactly what he wanted next.
"I just want to say one thing, I'm next in line for the belt."
The result saw Blaydes improve to 10-1 (1 NC). It was his eighth career knockout win. Meanwhile, Overeem dropped tow fights on the bounce with the 12th knockout defeat of his career.
