LAS VEGAS – Curtis Blaydes isn’t the type of guy to talk trash, but he’s also not one to hold back his opinion, either. So as Blaydes surveyed the UFC heavyweight landscape following his impressive January win over former champ Junior Dos Santos , he realized there was only one logical matchup on the horizon: Alexander Volkov . “After I beat Junior, I knew it was going to be Volkov,” Blaydes told MMA Junkie. “I knew they weren’t going to give me Derrick Lewis . They don’t want him to lose, and they know if they gave him me, I would destroy him, so I knew he was off the table. I knew it had to be Volkov, so as soon as it was offered, I said yes.” Blaydes (13-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and Volkov (31-7 MMA, 5-1 UFC) now meet in the main event of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 11, which airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+ from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas
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Curtis Blaydes knew he’d fight Alexander Volkov: They don’t want Derrick Lewis to lose – MMA Junkie