Having booked his first Octagon assignment of 2025, Curtis Blaydes will defend his place in the heavyweight top five when he meets Russian finisher Rizvan Kuniev at UFC Fight Night 252. Despite going 4-2 in his last six fights, with those two losses coming against Sergei Pavlovich and interim champion Tom Aspinall, Blaydes (18-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) will bafflingly be taking on a man who is just making his promotional debut.
A notable member of the heavyweight upper echelon for years, this will be the first unranked opponent “Razor” has faced in quite some time.
Curtis Blaydes Gives Reasoning for Fighting Kuniev
On the outset of this matchup, it is the 265-lb mainstay, Curtis Blaydes, who has the most to lose. However, for the longtime divisional elite, fighting Kuniev comes as both a necessity and a desire to remain as active as possible. Speaking with Canadian MMA reporter James Lynch, Blaydes talks more about his decision to battle the Dagestani prospect.
“They (the UFC) reached out to me with a name, and I was like, ‘I like the date,’ so I said yeah,” Curtis Blaydes began. People don’t get the money is the same regardless of the opponent, so I’ll take a paycheck.”
For a professional prize fighter, money is a big motivator to accept a contest against any opponent, regardless of their rank or lack thereof, but for Curtis Blaydes, keeping from stagnating was also a key factor in him signing on the dotted line.
“They kind of gave me the option, and I could have just waited, but it would have been a long wait, maybe like all the way until April or May,” Blaydes recalled. “So, I just figured they got me an opponent, I liked the date, and it’s hard to turn down a paycheck.”
Currently riding a staggering 11-fight win streak, Kuniev may just be one of the top heavyweight prospects in the world right now. However, Blaydes believes his invaluable experience competing against the greatest 265-lb fighters in the UFC will play an integral part in his bout with the Russian.
“I think that is always going to be a factor”, Curtis Blaydes said. That’s why you want experience, and that’s in any field, even with a doctor. I’d rather have a doctor who’s like 50 who’s been going for 25 years, rather than a new hotshot who’s just out of school, even though he might be amazing, I’d just rather have the experienced guy. Experience matters.”
Despite his tenure as a venerable competitor in the organization, though, “Razor” isn’t looking past Kuniev by any means; he intends to show the UFC newcomer the same level of respect as he has given to all of his past adversaries.
“I do believe it (experience) will have an impact, but like I said, this is heavyweight, I’m approaching him with the same respect I gave Tom Aspinall.”
Looking Back On Unranked Fighters Against Ranked Opposition in 2024 Ahead of Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev
For the debuting Kuniev, Blaydes represents a major step up in competition. While a victory over the one-time UFC title challenger would instantly put him near the forefront of the heavyweight elite. However, unranked athletes notoriously had a difficult time this year going up against top 10 standouts. Most famously in 2024, Ikram Aliskerov was knocked out in dramatic fashion by Robert Whittaker in their main event encounter at UFC on ABC 6.
There was also Shamil Gaziev, who suffered the first loss of his career at UFC Fight Night 238 when he was out struck by Senegalese kickboxer Jairzinho Rozenstruik before ultimately retiring from their fight at the end of the fourth round.
Most recently, Jhonata Diniz was on the wrong end of a brutal beatdown by Polish heavyweight Marcin Tybura at UFC 309. While the Brazilian did manage to knockdown Tybura in the early stages of their meeting, “Tybur” demonstrated his veteran savvy by surviving the onslaught and getting Diniz on his back. He then proceeded to rain down elbows, which caused a grizzly cut to form on his opponent’s face, leading the ringside doctor to call an end to the fight before the third round began.
