Curtis Blaydes has opened up about the damage and surprise that followed his Fight of the Night war with Josh Hokit at UFC 327, where he dropped a unanimous 29-28 decision.
The heavyweight bout went the full 15 minutes in a back-and-forth striking battle that left Blaydes with a shattered nose and broken orbital, leading to a 160-day suspension. Hokit collected $200,000 in bonuses for the performance.
“Early on, I was on pain meds,” Blaydes said. “I was on Percocet because I have the orbital and the broken nose, but I haven’t had any of those a day, so I still feel good. And if you watched the fight, I I know everybody did, he didn’t hit me anywhere else besides the face. So my legs are good. My arms are good. Everything else is good.”
“He broke the nose on that early overhand in the first round, that’s where all the blood came from. I think that was the biggest deciding factor for the judges, all the blood I was bleeding. And that was just because I’m a bleeder. This nose has been broken a few times now.”
Blaydes believed his wrestling and grappling should have swung the scorecards. “I was expecting [the ref] to pick my hand up. I really, really was. That’s why when they gave us the judgment, I was a little bit in shock. I was like, ‘Dang. I thought thought I did enough.’”
Josh Hokit is now set for a quick turnaround against Derrick Lewis at the UFC White House card on June 14th, while Blaydes has stated he will not rush his return until his orbital is fully healed.
