Curtis Blaydes is heading again to the drafting board.
The longtime heavyweight contender hit one other roadblock to his dream of changing into UFC heavyweight champion on Saturday, dropping in simply 60 seconds in his shot on the interim title in opposition to Tom Aspinall in UFC 304’s co-main occasion. It was a disappointing exhibiting from Blaydes, who has now suffered first-round knockout losses in two of his previous three bouts.
Early Sunday morning, Blaydes launched his first assertion addressing the loss on his Instagram Tales, which could be seen and skim beneath.
Curtis Blaydes, Instagram
Sorry guys, I obtained grasping once I touched him early and threw out the superb gameplan that my coaches Vinnie Lopez [and] Cody Donovan got here up with that will’ve labored I’m positive of it. No excuses Tom was on level tonight I do know this isn’t the tip of my journey however damnit, I do know I’m higher than tonight’s efficiency. I recognize all of the help actually it’s been a watch opening expertise to have so many ppl rocking with me
Blaydes, 33, entered the bout as MMA Combating’s No. 4 ranked heavyweight on the planet.
The Illinois native has gained 13 of his 19 octagon bouts since debuting within the UFC in 2016, beating the likes of Jailton Almeida, Aspinall, Alexander Volkov, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
UFC 304 occurred on July 27 at Co-op Reside in Manchester, England.
Watch highlights of Aspinall’s 60-second win over Blaydes right here.
