{"id":291283,"date":"2018-11-13T09:00:06","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T17:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=291283"},"modified":"2018-11-13T09:01:10","modified_gmt":"2018-11-13T17:01:10","slug":"curtis-blaydes-questions-francis-ngannous-headspace-ahead-of-battle-in-beijing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/curtis-blaydes\/curtis-blaydes-questions-francis-ngannous-headspace-ahead-of-battle-in-beijing\/","title":{"rendered":"Curtis Blaydes questions Francis Ngannou&#8217;s headspace ahead of battle in Beijing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The year 2018 has not been kind to Francis Ngannou. Though the hulking Cameroonian-French heavyweight began the year as perhaps the UFC&#8217;s most hyped fighter, he was then dominated in his anticipated title fight with Stipe Miocic, and defeated by Derrick Lewis in one of the most disappointing fights ever. After this tough run in 2018, Ngannou&#8217;s next opponent Curtis Blaydes isn&#8217;t sure what to expect when they meet in the main event of UFC Beijing on November 24.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s probably in a hole right now,\u201d Curtis Blaydes said during a recent media scrum (via <a href=\"https:\/\/mmajunkie.com\/2018\/11\/ufc-beijing-curtis-blaydes-believes-francis-ngannou-in-dark-place\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MMAjunkie<\/a>). \u201c0-2 after being the hotshot? That\u2019s got to be a dark, dark place. I want him to be his best. I don\u2019t want any excuses out of his camp or the fans or the company. I want him at his best. I\u2019ll beat him 10 out of 10 times.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When Blaydes and Ngannou step into the cage in Beijing, it will be a rematch of 2016 fight, which Ngannou won by doctor stoppage. While Blaydes considers this a legitimate loss, he says it&#8217;s not the kind of setback that keeps him up at night.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it kept me up at night, but I knew [the rematch] would happen eventually,\u201d Blaydes said. \u201cIt was inevitable. I knew he\u2019d be around, I\u2019d be around. The UFC likes natural stories like this. We already have a natural storyline. It\u2019s not fake. We had a fight, he won, but I didn\u2019t get to finish it. So I do have a bit of redemption I want to get.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is a loss,\u201d Blaydes added. \u201cOn my record it\u2019s a loss, but any loss that you don\u2019t lose any sleep over is that one. It wasn\u2019t the referee\u2019s decision, it wasn\u2019t the judge\u2019s decision, it was the doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Who do you think will come out on top when Curtis Blaydes and Francis Ngannou go to war at UFC Beijing?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>This article first appeared on\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>BJPENN.COM<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>\u00a0on 11\/13\/2018.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The year 2018 has not been kind to Francis Ngannou. Though the hulking Cameroonian-French heavyweight began the year as perhaps the UFC&#8217;s most hyped fighter, he was then dominated in his anticipated title fight with Stipe Miocic, and defeated by Derrick Lewis in one of the most disappointing fights ever. After this tough run in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":284279,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[39413,10646,39610],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.7 (Yoast SEO v19.14) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Curtis Blaydes questions Francis Ngannou&#039;s headspace ahead of battle in Beijing | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/curtis-blaydes\/curtis-blaydes-questions-francis-ngannous-headspace-ahead-of-battle-in-beijing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Curtis Blaydes questions Francis Ngannou&#039;s headspace ahead of battle in Beijing | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The year 2018 has not been kind to Francis Ngannou. Though the hulking Cameroonian-French heavyweight began the year as perhaps the UFC&#8217;s most hyped fighter, he was then dominated in his anticipated title fight with Stipe Miocic, and defeated by Derrick Lewis in one of the most disappointing fights ever. After this tough run in [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/curtis-blaydes\/curtis-blaydes-questions-francis-ngannous-headspace-ahead-of-battle-in-beijing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"| BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-13T17:00:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-13T17:01:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/Curtis-Blaydes-2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"399\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/curtis-blaydes\/curtis-blaydes-questions-francis-ngannous-headspace-ahead-of-battle-in-beijing\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/curtis-blaydes\/curtis-blaydes-questions-francis-ngannous-headspace-ahead-of-battle-in-beijing\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tom Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87\"},\"headline\":\"Curtis Blaydes questions Francis Ngannou&#8217;s headspace ahead of battle in Beijing\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-13T17:00:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-13T17:01:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/curtis-blaydes\/curtis-blaydes-questions-francis-ngannous-headspace-ahead-of-battle-in-beijing\/\"},\"wordCount\":349,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Curtis Blaydes\",\"Francis Ngannou\",\"UFC\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2018\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/curtis-blaydes\/curtis-blaydes-questions-francis-ngannous-headspace-ahead-of-battle-in-beijing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/curtis-blaydes\/curtis-blaydes-questions-francis-ngannous-headspace-ahead-of-battle-in-beijing\/\",\"name\":\"Curtis Blaydes questions Francis Ngannou's headspace ahead of battle in Beijing | BJPenn.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-13T17:00:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-13T17:01:10+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/curtis-blaydes\/curtis-blaydes-questions-francis-ngannous-headspace-ahead-of-battle-in-beijing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/curtis-blaydes\/curtis-blaydes-questions-francis-ngannous-headspace-ahead-of-battle-in-beijing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/curtis-blaydes\/curtis-blaydes-questions-francis-ngannous-headspace-ahead-of-battle-in-beijing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MMA News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Curtis Blaydes\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/curtis-blaydes\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Curtis Blaydes questions Francis Ngannou&#8217;s headspace ahead of battle in Beijing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"description\":\"MMA &amp; 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