“Let me hit you the way I was hitting him” - Chris Curtis lays into Dominick Cruz for labeling his offense as “sparring” during UFC 297 broadcast
Despite picking up a win at UFC 297, Chris Curtis is not satisfied with the way his fight played out.
Fighting on the pay-per-view main card, Curtis defeated Marc-Andre Barriault by unanimous decision, improving to 31-10. Due to the nature of the fight – and with Barriault being the crowd favorite – fans began to boo, and Curtis faced criticism following his win.
As Curtis explained to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, he attributes most of the fan perspective of his fight to Dominick Cruz's commentary:
"According to Dominick Cruz, and now the internet because everyone latches on to commentators, 'Oh you're just sparring.' Stand here Dominick Cruz and let me hit you the way I was hitting him. You'll see if it's just sparring. No, we're two large, solid men. I promise you guys I was hitting him f****** hard and he was hitting me hard."
Curtis added that he despises the UFC broadcast commentary and watches fights on mute due to his distaste for analysts.
With the win, Curtis extended the losing streak for male Canadian fighters to six on the card. The last Canadian fighter in the event, Mike Malott, would also lose in the next fight to drop their record to 0-7 on the night.
Cruz has yet to respond to Curtis' comment on his work on the broadcast since The MMA Hour episode aired.
Chris Curtis tells reporters he would welcome fight with teammate Sean Strickland
Fellow middleweights Sean Strickland and Chris Curtis are notorious best friends but have both claimed that they would love to fight each other if given the opportunity.
After his win over Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC 297, a reporter asked Curtis if he would be interested in a fight against Strickland, to which the American claimed he would accept it "in a heartbeat." Curtis claimed the two go at it constantly and have been kicked out of gyms in the past for fighting, saying he would love an opportunity to get paid for what Strickland attempts to do "for free."
Check out Chris Curtis' comments below:
Curtis briefly admitted in his response that he felt he would likely lose to Strickland but would have a memorable and enjoyable experience.