Curtis Blaydes took a beating at UFC 327 | Getty/UFC
Engaging in a “Fight of the Year” candidate took its toll on
Curtis
Blaydes.
The longtime heavyweight contender squared off against prospect
Josh
Hokit on the UFC 327
main card at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Saturday night. While
both combatants boast wrestling backgrounds, the bout turned into a
slugfest in which Blaydes (177) and Hokit (174) combined to land
the most significant strikes in a three-round fight in UFC
heavyweight history.
Hokit appeared to wobble Blaydes on more than one occasion, but
“Razor” was never dropped. However, Hokit got stronger as the fight
progressed, ultimately earning a hard-fought unanimous decision
victory.
The Cost of Doing Business
As for Blaydes, he will likely be sidelined for quite some time as
he recovers from the injuries suffered in the memorable contest.
Blaydes’ management team at Vayner Sports revealed to MMAjunkie.com that the fighter sustained a
fractured orbital and a fractured nose in the bout. Blaydes has
been released from a Miami hospital but a timetable for his
recovery is currently unclear.
The 35-year-old Blaydes has lost three of his last five Octagon
appearances dating back to 2023. “Razor” has been a fixture in the
heavyweight Top 10 during his
UFC tenure and owns notable victories over the likes of
Mark
Hunt, Alistair
Overeem, Junior dos
Santos, Alexander
Volkov, Jairzinho
Rozenstruik, Tom
Aspinall and Jailton
Almeida, to name a few.