The UFC is heading to Seattle, Washington on February 22nd and over the weekend, we learned of a big time heavyweight matchup that will be on the card. MMA Junkie first reported and confirmed that former interim heavyweight title challenger Curtis “Razor” Blaydes (18-5, 1 NC) will be taking on promotional newcomer Rizvan Kuniev (13-2-1).
Starting with Curtis Blaydes, this will be his first fight since his interim title fight with Tom Aspinall. Aspinall and Blaydes first fought in 2022 and Blaydes got the injury TKO after Aspinall blew out his knee in the first round of the fight. Blaydes would go 1-1 in his next two fights.
However, after he stopped Jailton Almeida earlier this year and Aspinall became the interim champion, the two men had a rematch in July. After landing some good shots early, Blaydes got stopped by Aspinall at one minute into the first round. Blaydes has been one of the UFC’s best ever since he made his octagon debut. Blaydes is 13-5, 1 NC in 19 fights inside the octagon. Derrick Lewis is the only man who wasn’t a world champion to defeat Blaydes inside the octagon.
UFC Seattle
When I saw that this fight was booked, I instantly thought that the UFC is trying to insert some new blood near the top of the heavyweight division. Curtis Blaydes is ranked fifth in the heavyweight division, meanwhile Kuniev hasn’t even made his octagon debut. He’ll be debuting against the fifth ranked Blaydes.
That tells me that the promotion thinks a lot of him because they want him to get into contention right away. Kuniev is getting this shot after earning a contract on The Contender Series. Kuniev is a former Eagle FC heavyweight champion and he defeated PFL champion Renan Ferreira during Ferreira’s championship season in 2023.
However, the fight was overturned to a No Contest after Kuniev tested positive. The UFC thinks this guy is the real deal and we will find out in February.