Curtis Blaydes’ first public words about his UFC 327 brawl with Josh Hokit definitely tell the story.
“Yeah, that was a fight,” Blaydes said during a Twitch live stream Monday night. “That was a motherf*cking fight. And I won’t lie: Hokit brought it. He had all the antics all week, but he f*cking brought it.”
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Hokit and Blaydes delivered an all-time heavyweight thriller and Fight of the Year front runner this past Saturday at Kaseya Center in Miami, with Hokit eking out a unanimous decision win after 15 grueling minutes of what looked like Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots.
In the aftermath of the fight, Blaydes said he’s felt “the most support (he’s) ever received, especially after a loss.” Thinking back to it, Blaydes wishes he had done one thing differently during the battle.
“I do feel like I should have used my wrestling a bit more, but I don’t know,” Blaydes said. “I didn’t see the opportunities, and I saw a lot of opportunities to punch him, so I just kept punching him.”
The amount of violence and damage absorbed between both men meant immediate post-fight hospital visits for Hokit and Blaydes, who revealed a private moment as they were being rolled in at the same time.
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“As we’re being brought in on the gurney things, he’s behind me. I’m not able to look behind me,” Blaydes said. “… But I could hear him going, ‘Blaydes, why didn’t you just give up? F*ck!’ Or at least that’s what I think he said. But again, I got hit a lot. I may not be remembering that exactly word for word.”
The battle between Hokit and Blaydes was the culmination of an awkward fight week in which Hokit went all in on playing the role of villain with a cringe worthy, disrespectful character. Blaydes said he was fine with how their encounters at the UFC 327 press conference and weigh-ins unfolded.
“I’m not mad,” Blaydes said. “Like, am I going to lose sleep? No. Would I prefer my opponent is more respectful? Yeah. But this is America. You can be whatever you want to be. You don’t have to be respectful to me. That’s not what I would do, but I’m not angry about it.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 327: Curtis Blaydes gives Josh Hokit credit for grueling win
