UFC Vegas 90, The Morning After: Curtis Gives Away The Win

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Chris Curtis is a fighter with special gifts.

You don’t make it to 43 professional fights without learning a thing or two, but even compared to his rare few peers with that many bouts, “The Action Man” has an unusual level of composure in the pocket. He’s able to slip elbows and roll high kicks with absolute comfort. His ability to keep his chin firmly tucked behind his shoulder in even the wildest of exchanges is almost unique, and it allows him to land punishing counters where others cannot.

Most fighters jump in with a couple strikes, then jump all the way back out, sacrificing their shot at a counter for safety. Curtis, meanwhile, baits his opponents into throwing so that he can stay right in there chest and rip up the torso or check the chin. It’s a simple concept, but the difficult execution is why so few athletes fight like him.

Last night (Sat., April 6, 2024) at UFC Vegas 90, we watched Curtis’ composure and pocket savvy play out to great effect against Brendan Allen. On several occasions, he braved the fire of the younger and larger man, just barely slipping potential knockout blows to return fire. Because of his ability to strike between Allen’s shots, Curtis’ own lands were very punishing and often seemed to take a greater effect on “All-In.”

That’s exactly how he knocked him out in 2021 (watch it).

In this rematch, it was frustrating to watch Curtis find so much success and still walk away with an avoidable loss. Curtis hurt Allen on several occasions, denied a lot of takedowns, and escaped quickly whenever Allen did take his back. That’s exactly what “The Action Man” camp was hoping for, so how come it didn’t result in a victory?

Once again, it comes down to decision-making, a factor in fighting that has plagued Curtis. Look no further than his UFC loss to Jack Hermansson, who defeated Curtis entirely by circling one direction and watching Curtis fail to adjust.

In this bout, there was a different but equally singular failed adjustment. In the latter couple rounds, Curtis was more consistently denying the takedown from Allen, who looked more and more fatigued from trying to wrestle. On many occasions, Allen would fall to his back, and Curtis would just let him back up to his feet. Then, 30 seconds or one minute later, Allen would shoot again and complete the takedown.

Awful.

Allen is a jiu-jitsu black belt, sure, but walking away from top position in the midst of a highly competitive fight is INSANE! Is the submission threat so remarkable from Allen that Curtis could survive his back mount numerous times yet his guard was too dangerous? Of course not. Allen hasn’t scored a single submission win inside the Octagon from his back, and Curtis hasn’t been submitted at all since 2011.

It’s just a bad decision that Curtis kept making. Sitting in guard and throwing the occasional elbow is the most restful way to win a round in the sport … and Curtis really needed to win these rounds. Meanwhile, Curtis’ repeated decision to back off from top position meant that Allen wasn’t being punished for his failed takedowns, so he could just keep trying until one worked.

If, alternatively, Curtis had settled into guard and thrown some elbows, Allen has a lot more work to do. He has to work hard to scramble back to his feet, avoid strikes, then try to get back on his offensive wrestling. That’s a lot more energy expenditure, and Curtis is winning every second that he’s in top position. Hell, if Curtis was that worried about Allen’s guard, just stand over him and kick the legs! It’s a terrible visual for Allen, another strategy that wins rounds at little risk.

The bottom line here is that Curtis needed just one more round on one more card to walk away with both of his checks. Allen gave him numerous opportunities to take top control, and because Curtis didn’t take them, he limps away defeated with a shredded hamstring (details here).

That’s an injury that only happened because Curtis walked away from top position in the fifth minute of the highly competitive fifth round.

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For complete UFC Vegas 90: “Allen vs. Curtis 2” results and play-by-play, click HERE.