Curtis Blaydes has been a perennial top-five heavyweight for the biggest part of his UFC career so there were more than a few curious looks when his next fight was booked against relative unknown Rizvan Kuniev.
It’s not to say that Kuniev is an unskilled fighter but he’s making his UFC debut against Blaydes after two fights on The Contender Series, a single appearance in the PFL, and spending a year on the shelf after he was suspended following a positive drug test for multiple steroids. Blaydes admits he didn’t know any of that because he had never heard of Kuniev before the UFC came to him with that name as an opponent.
“I did [a double take] but like I always say, the money’s the same regardless if it’s Jon Jones or if it’s a debut guy,” Blaydes told MMA Fighting. “The money’s the same so I’ll always be down.
“I had to Google him. I watched his fight on The Contender [Series], that’s really the only fight of his I watched. He looks like your traditional heavyweight — swings heavy and hopes to knock you out early.”
Once Blaydes started doing his research he came across Kuniev’s name for the suspension he faced from the Nevada Athletic Commission after he tested positive for a cocktail of banned substances. Kuniev was penalized after a drug test discovered drostanolone, metenelone, boldenone, and 19-norandrosterone, which are all anabolic steroids, in his system.
Discovering that information might give someone pause before a fight but Blaydes didn’t lose any sleep over it.
“I heard about that also,” Blaydes said about Kuniev’s suspension. “Who knows that might be part of this. Maybe he has to get it out of his system but I heard about rumors like that about [Jailton] Almeida and I mean he is very strong and he did have skills, but roids are not going to be the difference. It’s not going to be enough.
“Even if he is on some stuff, I don’t believe it’s going to help him with his sprawling or help him take a punch. I’m all right with it, even if he is on some stuff.”
Perhaps the biggest danger in this fight is that Blaydes walks into UFC 313 as an overwhelming favorite to win based not only on his past resume but also because he’s facing an octagon rookie.
That means the expectations are high for Blaydes to tear through Kuniev but he learned a long time ago that just because something is supposed to happen doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.
“I think that’s one of the benefits coming up through wrestling,” Blaydes explained. “I’ve been in this position before where I was a junior in high school, highly ranked, No. 4 in the state, got some unknown dude. I went out there messing around with him, took him down a few times, let him up, I’m playing with my food so to speak, and then got hit with a headlock and I got pinned by some unknown unranked heavyweight.
“After that, I’ve never approached anything athletic like ‘Oh this dude’s a bum.’ He’s here for a reason. He must have some type of skill. I’m not going to not approach him with the respect he deserves. He’s here. He’s in the UFC. They’re not bringing in unskilled heavyweights. I’m approaching it as if he has the ability to beat me, which he does. This is heavyweight. It only takes one sloppy haymaker and lights out.”
While Blaydes didn’t get upset that the UFC offered him a newcomer, he initially had his sights set on a different opponent.
Coming off a knockout loss to current interim heavyweight Tom Aspinall this past July, Blaydes thought a showdown against Ciryl Gane was the fight that made the most sense but he also didn’t get his hopes too high that would happen.
Blaydes has never considered himself a trash talker and he doesn’t go out of his way to stir up trouble but he’s got receipts to back up his belief that Gane has no interest in ever facing him.
“I normally don’t do this but he has turned [it down] — I have heard this from my management speaking with Hunter [Campbell], who does the contracts and negotiations for [heavyweights], he has turned me down three times over the past four years,” Blaydes revealed. “I remember I asked for him originally in 2021 and they gave me Volkov. I wanted him again after that one and they gave me Derrick Lewis. I’ve asked for him a few times.
“Originally that’s the one I wanted after the Aspinall fight. OK, I guess I’ll go for Gane and he ends up in there with Volkov. I don’t think we will ever fight, unfortunately.”
As much as it bugs him that Gane seemingly has no interest in the fight, Blaydes understands the logic, at least based on the visuals of how he expects that matchup to play out.
“We understand why,” Blaydes said. “I go out there and I smash him, he loses a lot marketability. The aura of the Frenchman who does all the fancy stuff. If you see me go out there and just body slam him on his head like four or five times and elbow him into oblivious, it kind of removes the marketability. So I get it.
“It just sucks because I think it would be a great fight for me. I beat him, that should be enough to get another title shot. Beating the guy I’m about to fight right now, it’s hard to say. He doesn’t have any value as a name right now. I don’t even know his name. Rizvan Kuniev? Right now doesn’t have a lot of name value.”
Beating Kuniev might not do much for him in the long run outside of earning another paycheck but Blaydes is proud that he didn’t scoff at the offer when the UFC came calling.
He’s nowhere near done with his career but Blaydes holds his head up high knowing when the day comes that he finally hangs up his gloves that no one can ever say he backed down from a fight.
“That’s a legacy I’ll brag about,” Blaydes said. “I won’t brag about the names. I’ll brag that I never said no. Never ever said no.”
