Curtis Blaydes
Vitals
Height, reach, and career background.
- Age
- 35
- Height
- 6′4″1.93 m
- Reach
- 80″203 cm
- Stance StanceWhich side a fighter leads from — a striking term, not a religious one. Orthodox: right-handed, left foot and hand forward (the common default). Southpaw: the mirror image, right side forward (usually a left-hander). Switch: changes between the two during a fight.
- Orthodox
- Weight class
- Heavyweight
- Nationality
- United States
- Team
- Elevation Fight Team · Denver, CO
- Active
- 2014–present
Record
Tap any fight for the breakdown.
LossDEC
UFC 327
11 Apr 2026
11 Apr 2026
Curtis Blaydes steadied after Josh Hokit charged forward and hurt him early, then answered with sustained volume and dirty boxing in a back-and-forth heavyweight fight. Hokit’s speed and power made the bigger early impression, but Blaydes kept pressing for all 15 minutes before the judges awarded Hokit a unanimous decision.
Key moments
- Hokit opened at a furious pace, wobbling and cutting Blaydes while swarming for an early finish.
- Blaydes recovered and responded with a relentless pace, dirty boxing, and his own heavy exchanges.
- The fight remained competitive and chaotic through the final horn, with neither heavyweight willing to wilt.
- Hokit won the unanimous decision 29-28 on all three judges' tallies.
27 Jul 2024
9 Mar 2024
22 Apr 2023
23 Jul 2022
26 Mar 2022
25 Sep 2021
LossKO
UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Lewis
20 Feb 2021
20 Feb 2021
A massive underdog, Lewis waited for the takedown attempt from the wrestling-heavy Blaydes and timed a counter uppercut perfectly in the second round that knocked Blaydes out cold. Blaydes was unconscious on the canvas for over a minute in one of the biggest upsets of the year, and Lewis earned his 12th UFC knockout.
Key moments
- Lewis was a significant betting underdog entering the fight.
- He timed a counter uppercut on Blaydes's takedown attempt at 1:26 of round 2.
- Blaydes was knocked unconscious and remained down for more than a minute.
- The win is widely considered one of the biggest heavyweight upsets in UFC history.
25 Jan 2020
7 Sep 2019
23 Mar 2019
24 Nov 2018
9 Jun 2018
11 Feb 2018
4 Nov 2017
8 Jul 2017
4 Feb 2017
1 Oct 2016
10 Apr 2016
19 Feb 2016
10 Apr 2015
15 Nov 2014
11 Oct 2014
31 May 2014
The Read
Style, strengths, and defining traits.
Blaydes is a heavyweight wrestler who does his best work once he can force opponents into repeated entries, cage wrestling and ugly exchanges that tax their balance. The striking has become functional enough to back up the takedown threat, but the real problem he presents is pace and top control from a division where very few fighters can keep that up for multiple rounds.
The résumé already includes wins over Jailton Almeida, Tom Aspinall, Chris Daukaus, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Alexander Volkov and Alistair Overeem. The tradeoff is visible against elite one-shot finishers like Francis Ngannou, Derrick Lewis and Sergei Pavlovich, and more recently in the losses to Aspinall and Josh Hokit when Blaydes could not impose his preferred wrestling terms early enough.