Curtis Blades is going back to the drawing board.
Perennial heavyweight contender Blaydes' dream of becoming a UFC heavyweight champion was hit with another roadblock on Saturday when he was knocked out in just 60 seconds against Tom Aspinall for the interim title in the co-main event of UFC 304. It was a disappointing result for Blaydes, who has lost two of his past three fights by first-round knockout.
Early Sunday morning, Blades released his initial statement about the loss on his Instagram Story, which you can view and read below.
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Curtis Blades, Instagram
Sorry, but I got greedy and threw away a great game plan that my coach, Vinny Lopez, had put in place. [and] If it was an idea that Cody Donovan came up with, it would have worked. There are no excuses. Tom was perfect tonight. I know this isn't the end of my journey, but I know I am better than my performance tonight. I truly appreciate all the support. It was an eye-opening experience to have so many people rock with me.
Blaydes, 33, entered the bout as MMA Fighting's No. 4 ranked heavyweight in the world.
The Illinois native has won 13 of his 19 Octagon fights since making his UFC debut in 2016, including wins over Jairton Almeida, Aspinall, Alexander Volkov and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
UFC 304 took place on July 27th at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
Check out the highlights of Aspinall's 60-second win over Blades here.
