Diesel AK Blog
Fighter Profile: Curtis Blaydes
Curtis Blaydes: UFC heavyweight wrestler — record, takedown legacy and current form.
Background
American heavyweight from Naperville, Illinois, and a former national junior college wrestling champion. His professional record is 19-6 and he has landed more takedowns than any other fighter in UFC heavyweight history — 64 as of March 2026.
Career timeline
- Joined the UFC in 2016 and became one of the division’s most consistent contenders, with wins over Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
- Twice lost to Francis Ngannou, and lost an interim title challenge to Tom Aspinall in July 2024.
- Lost by unanimous decision to Josh Hokit at UFC 327 in Miami on 11 April 2026, his most recent bout.
- Ranked seventh in the UFC heavyweight division as of late April 2026.
Fight craft
Blaydes is the division’s purest wrestler: a relentless chain-wrestling attack built on level changes, body locks and top control, supported by a jab and a hard right hand that exist mainly to set up the shot. When he is allowed to grapple he can control almost anyone at heavyweight. His limitation has been consistent across a decade — he is vulnerable in stand-up exchanges against elite punchers, and every one of his significant defeats has come by knockout or against opponents whose takedown defence forced him to strike.
In the modern MMA landscape
Our wider MMA analysis mentions Blaydes only as an opponent Aspinall finished quickly. That undersells a career that holds a genuine divisional record, but it is also true that his 2026 form has gone the wrong way: he enters the second half of the year on a loss and outside title contention.
Return to What the Modern MMA Game Demands.
Sources
Record and competitive status checked 1 August 2026.
