Curtis Blaydes is urging Stipe Miocic to make a decision or vacate his UFC gold.
Miocic’s next title defense is up in the air. While UFC president Dana White has claimed that Miocic agreed to a trilogy fight with Daniel Cormier, the Ohio native has denied this. With Miocic cleared but planning to take some time to get back into the swing of things, Blaydes is starting to lose his patience.
During an appearance on ESPN’s Ariel Helwani MMA Show, Blaydes said that Miocic is holding up the heavyweight division.
“The heavyweight division after you get past Derrick Lewis is pretty hazy,” Curtis Blaydes said. “That all rests on Stipe’s decisions. I know he’s got the injury. I know he’s gonna be out for a little while but it would be nice if he made a decision. At least give us some sort of timeline, like a plan. If he wants ‘DC’ that’s fine. I have no problem waiting if he wants ‘DC.'”
Blaydes went on to say that Miocic can’t stay in the way of rising contenders for much longer.
“I’m not gonna lie it’s a bit annoying and frustrating,” Curtis Blaydes continued. “I have a lot of respect for Stipe, we have trained together previously but I didn’t envision him being the type of champion to create a logjam like this. It feels like he’s just soaking up the spotlight, which is well within his right but in order to be the champion, the champion has to fight. He has to defend the belt, he has to continue to prove that he’s the champion. It’ll be a year before he steps back in the Octagon and to me that’s too long. I think if it gets to like June or July and he still hasn’t made a decision, I’m gonna start calling for defend or vacate. No disrespect to him, I think he’s an amazing fighter, a really good dude but this is my prime. I don’t have time to wait for old men to soak up the limelight. You need to get out of the way and make room for the new blood.”
Do you agree with Curtis Blaydes’ take that Stipe Miocic has created a logjam at heavyweight?
