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When Chris Curtis stepped into the Octagon for the first time in November 2021 to face off with Phil Hawes at UFC 268 in New York City, it marked the 35th fight of his then 12-year professional career.
He won that fight by first-round knockout, and another a month later in the second round before picking up a third straight UFC victory over Rodolfo Vieira that carried him into the rankings for the first time.
And that’s when things started to go awry for “The Action Man.”
“Getting ranked was cool, but probably the worst thing that happened to me,” Curtis said with a chuckle just a few days out from his main event clash with Brendan Allen on Saturday night. “Once you get into the rankings and the money starts to get better, you start to develop fear.
“You become afraid to fail. You’re afraid of a setback, and how far a loss sets you back.
“For me, I’ve always fought because I loved fighting, but once I had something to lose, it got really weird,” continued the 36-year-old, who began his 2024 campaign with a split decision win over Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC 297 in January. “You’re not fighting to fight, you’re fighting to hold onto something, and that’s something I’ve had to mentally separate myself from.
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“You’re fighting to hold onto a number, hold onto the respect of people you’ll never know, and it puts pressure on you, so, for me, I’m like, ‘F*** it!’ I never fought with that, I never cared, and I’m realizing now that I’ve gotten away from that, and the key is getting back to that.
“Once you get there, it’s weird, especially after doing it for so long.,” he added, shaking his head. “I was uniquely unprepared for what to do once I got (to the UFC and into the rankings). I’m a little better off now, I’ve got a better direction in my head now.”
The hyper-fixation on the impact of each appearance and the way that social media can be uplifting or debilitating are universally understandable not just within the MMA space, but for most people, in general, if you turn each fight into a work assignment, business project, or task you’re looking to accomplish.
But Curtis is in a unique position professionally because his age works as a force multiplier when it comes to his career and the positive or negative effects each win and loss can carry.
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“Every fighter has a time limit — we can’t do this forever — and that’s why I’m so adamant and passionate about this because I’m working on a very limited time limit,” said Curtis, who arrived on the scene later than most, and therefore doesn’t have the space to embark on a 10-12-year run inside the Octagon. “I’ve been fighting for 20 something years. I’ve held together very well — thank God I come from durable genetics — but the survival rate for everybody drops to zero eventually, so I’m aware that I can’t do it forever.
“I’ve got three more years. I’ve been signed for two, and I’ve got three more, and really, I’ve got to put 10, 12 years into that,” he continued. “I can’t be afraid to take those risks, take those chances.
“There are probably fights I shouldn’t take, but f*** it. If you lose, what’s gonna happen? The internet is gonna say you suck or you’re mid, but so what? When it’s all said and done and I’m gone, I’m gonna have some awesome stories to tell and some cool f****** scars, so why not?”
Highlight: Chris Curtis Stuns Phil Hawes In The First Round | UFC 268
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Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there’s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world’s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
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Highlight: Chris Curtis Stuns Phil Hawes In The First Round | UFC 268
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It’s that mindset that got him into the UFC in the first place and allowed him to earn two wins in four weeks at the outset of his tenure, and now it’s the approach that carries him into his first main event and a pivotal rematch this weekend.
After dispatching Hawes in his debut, Curtis’ second appearance inside the Octagon came a month later in Las Vegas against Allen, a skilled, emerging middleweight that had put together consecutive victories since losing to Curtis’ teammate and close friend Sean Strickland the previous year.
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Curtis got the better of things, earning a second-round stoppage win over the Louisiana native, who has not lost since.
Originally scheduled to face perennial contender Marvin Vettori, Curtis raised his hand when “The Italian Dream” was forced to withdraw, and this weekend, he and Allen will run it back with five rounds at their disposal.
Highlight: Chris Curtis Secures Second TKO In A Month | UFC Fight Night: Font vs Aldo
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there’s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world’s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there’s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world’s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
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Highlight: Chris Curtis Secures Second TKO In A Month | UFC Fight Night: Font vs Aldo
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“It’s that Marvel thing with Thanos: ‘You couldn’t live with your decisions, you couldn’t live with your mistakes, and where did that lead you? Back to me,’” he said, smiling, when asked about the full-circle moment. “It’s just a weird circular thing. Of course this is the way it works out, but you’ve just got to roll with it. It’s the way the fight game is at this point, so f*** it — here we are!
“Knowing Brendan, I have no doubt he laughed,” Curtis said of Allen, who has posted six consecutive victories and four straight wins by rear-naked choke since their first encounter. “We’re both fighters, we like to fight, so I’m sure we both just laughed.
“At the end of the day, he wants to fight — he doesn’t want to train all this time for nothing. I’m gonna be training seven days a week, year-round anyway, so why not?”
The fact that Curtis was the last man to beat Allen before he embarked on his current run of success adds further intrigue to this already compelling middleweight clash, as it feels like Saturday’s sequel will provide clarity about whether the streaking 28-year-old has made significant improvements or changes since their first meeting.
From his vantage point, Curtis doesn’t believe there is much different about his opponent this weekend since their last meeting.
“I don’t think he’s changed from the time we fought to now, and that’s not a bad thing,” he said about Allen. “He’s a good fighter. He’s not bad at anything. He’s good everywhere.
“I haven’t seen anything super-different that has changed,” he reiterated. “We got into a fistfight and somebody got knocked out; that’s kind of how fistfights go.”
He turned the question around on me, seeking my thoughts, and I suggested that the biggest change has been in Allen’s belief in himself and his abilities.
Prior to their first encounter, Allen was like most confident individuals in their early-to-mid 20s — a little too brash, a little too quick to let you know how good he was, and eager to make it clear that if he ran it back with Strickland, the results would be different the second time around. But over the course of his current winning streak, he’s been talking less and doing more; playing to his strengths on the ground and letting his results speak for him.
I tell this to Curtis and he nods his head.
“It’s a big piece,” he said in regard to my self-belief theory on Allen. “It makes a very big difference if you believe it, especially after you have setbacks because you start to question it.
“You need to remember who the f*** you are sometimes.”
It’s a lesson Curtis has taken to heart himself, as he’s worked to tune out the nonsense and focus in on what really matters and the respect he commands with the MMA community.
“A big piece for me was that I had to stop giving a f*** about the fans; I honestly had to stop,” he said. “I love them, I love the sport and everything, but, at the end of the day, most of them will turn on you in a heartbeat. You can’t fight for validation from people that aren’t heavily invested in you; that’s a mistake.
“I have the respect of people I train with. I have the respect of people I’m rivals with. I’m respected by my peers, and that should mean more to me than any validation of some random guy behind a keyboard, and I accept that now and it’s taken a lot of stress off my shoulders. I can walk into any high-level gym in the world and I’ll be understood and respected, so how am I losing sleep over random people online?
“The people I respect, that I look up to, they know I’m good, and that means the f****** world to me.”
UFC Fight Night: Allen vs Curtis 2 took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 6, 2024. See the final Prelim and Main Card Results, Official Scorecards, and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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