Curtis Blaydes goes into one of, if not the toughest test of his MMA career as he takes on the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion, Tom Aspinall, tonight at the brand new Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England.
While some will question that statement with the argument that Blaydes already has a win over Aspinall, context is important here. Their first fight, just over two years ago, was also in England (London) but lasted just fifteen seconds as Aspinall suffered a debilitating knee injury, ruling him out of action for almost a year – the fight ended prematurely before it really got going.
Since then, the interim champion has defeated Marcin Tybura and Sergei Pavlovich inside the first round, both in dominating fashion. The hype levels around the interim heavyweight champion are at a fever pitch, with many assuming he will fight the winner of Jon Jones Vs. Stipe Miocic next.
Write Curtis Blaydes off at your peril. Recent history has shown us to beware of overwhelming favorites as nothing in the sport of MMA is given, with Sean Strickland’s win over Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 and Ilia Topuria’s upset victory over Alexander Volkanovski earlier this year being just two examples.
With thirteen of Blaydes’ eighteen victories in mixed martial arts coming by way of knockout, he doesn’t just pack a punch inside the cage. During the build-up to UFC 304, he spoke to the media about his speech impediment. Describing how it affected him growing up and how he’s learned to embrace it was very inspiring:
”My Dad has a speech impediment, also. It’s hereditary. My daughter has a speech impediment and it scares me. I know how children are mean, I know how it was for me growing up in Chicago” – said Blaydes.
He then went on to explain how it affected his confidence in high school and encourage people to ignore bullies:
”I wouldn’t raise my hand if I knew the answer (in school). I was embarrassed. I didn’t want people to laugh and all that stuff. I just want those people that also have a speech impediment to know that if people are laughing at you, it doesn’t mean anything about you, it means a whole lot more about them and their character. I hope other people, young people, old people, anyone with a speech impediment or with a connection to someone with a speech impediment can look at me and see that you can do whatever you wanna do.”
Blaydes then explained how he is father is a recently retired police officer, meaning that his speech impeachment didn’t stop him from having a successful career in law enforcement and encouraged others to follow their dreams.
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