NEW YORK – Chris Curtis never expected to make it to the UFC at this stage of his career, but now that he’s here, wants to make the most of it.
Curtis (26-8 MMA, 0-0 UFC) joined the UFC roster this past month when he was supposed to fight Phil Hawes (11-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) on one days’ notice at a UFC Fight Night event in Las Vegas. Hawes turned down the replacement option, though, and the bout was pushed back to Saturday’s UFC 268 event.
The delay is a blessing in disguise for Curtis, who now gets to debut in front of a sold out crowd at Madison Square Garden. He knows this UFC stint isn’t going to be super lengthy, so he wants to maximize the time.
“I’m 34 now – lucky for me I haven’t taken too much damage in this sport,” Curtis told MMA Junkie and other reporters at UFC 268 media day. “I’m still pretty healthy. I’m not walking around with a bunch of knee surgeries and stuff. But I look in the mirror and every day I have a few more gray hair. I see a couple more scars adding to my face. I’m not going to have this 10-year UFC run that I dreamed of when I started, but that’s fine. Right now I’m here to do cool sh*t and get a lot of money.”
Curtis vs. Hawes airs on the UFC 268 prelims, which stream on ESPN+ and air on ESPNNews prior to the pay-per-view main card.
To hear more from Curtis, check out his complete UFC 268 media day interview above.
UFC 268’s Chris Curtis ‘here to do cool sh*t and get a lot of money’ in unexpected UFC run