Chris Curtis figured he would have to be the aggressor against Joaquin Buckley at UFC 282.
When the fight was offered, Curtis was surprised as he didn’t understand why Buckley even called him out. But, once he started training camp, he says the plan was to be the aggressor and force Buckley to be active and likely gas out later in the fight.
However, from the get-go, Buckley was more active than usual which surprised Curtis and says made his job easier.
“He threw more volume than I expected. We thought he would be more reserved to preserve his gas tank. We knew he didn’t want to get tired against me,” Curtis said to BJPENN.com. “My entire game plan was about moving and cutting the cage off and be the aggressor to force him to throw more volume. We thought if we could make it longer exchanges, he would tire himself out and make more mistakes in the longer exchanges and I could catch him. He came out and was throwing long exchanges and being aggressive, which did surprise me. At that point, it was like, well this makes my job easier.”
Another big part of Curtis’ game plan was throwing his left hand. He said his coaches have often criticized him for not throwing it as a counter shot. So, throwing that punch was something he did constantly in the gym.
With that, when the opening was there Curtis landed a left cross that dropped Buckley. He then finished him in the second round with ground and pound for the TKO victory.
“The entire camp was working on that left cross and left hook. I have had a habit of not doing anything when people threw leg kicks. So, my coaches were drilling me on throwing my left hand and that is what got him,” Curtis said. “But, when he went down, I wasn’t sure if he was out. I followed him down and the second punch I landed he went out and stopped but Jason Herzog didn’t stop it. So, I hit him again and he wakes up, well then it’s like damn it. I hit him again and he goes out. I look at Herzog and he looks back at me and we are all just looking at each other like what the f**k do we do. So, I just started pounding, and eventually, he stepped in.”
The plan now for Chris Curtis is to once again have an active year. But, he says he wants his next fight to be with a full training camp. The hope is to return in March and wants to be the main event against Dricus Du Plessis or the winner of Kelvin Gastelum vs. Nassourdine Imavov.
“I really want that Jack fight back but I don’t think I get that right away so there are other cool fights,” Curtis concluded. “Dricus had a good win and we were booked to fight earlier this year so that would be cool. So, that fight or the winner of Gastelum-Imavov, and hopefully it is the main event.”
Who would you like to see Chris Curtis fight next?