Chris Curtis knew he had to beat Brendan Allen or he ‘wouldn’t hear the end of it from Sean Strickland’

Chris Curtis knew he had pressure to beat Brendan Allen due to his teammate and cornerman, Sean Strickland.

After Curtis shocked many with a knockout win over Phil Hawes at UFC 268 he said he was going to fight in December. According to Curtis, that fight was against Andre Muniz at UFC 269, but it never came to fruition, but days later he got the fight offer to face Allen.

During his brief training camp for the fight, Curtis was well-aware of Allen and Strickland’s rivalry. Although he was trying to not pay attention to that, in the back of his head, he knew he couldn’t let Strickland have that over him for the rest of his life.

“If I lost to Brendan Allen, I wouldn’t hear the end of it from Sean Strickland,” Curtis said to BJPENN.com. “Sean would make sure he would bring that up always, even on my death bed he would remind me I lost to Allen who he beat.”

With the win TKO win over Allen, Curtis is now 2-0 in the UFC in just four weeks which is impressive. He said he has made over $120k in four weeks which has put him in two tax brackets more than what he was.

Even though he has more money than usual, Chris Curtis doesn’t care. Instead, he is just focused on fighting but isn’t sure who is next as he admits he didn’t expect to make a legit run at middleweight.

“I don’t know who exists in the rankings. Me being a middleweight is a joke that has gotten out of hand,” Curtis explained. “I never expected to be contending at middleweight so I have no clue who’s in the division or who’s ranked. I had heard before the fight that Allen should’ve been ranked before our fight. It’s funny because I was never supposed to be here. This is a joke that has gotten out of hand now I’m just seeing what’s next and riding this out until it goes sideways.”

With Curtis not sure who he wants to fight next, he does have a date as he wants to fight on March 26 which is targeted for Columbus. It is his hometown and for “The Action Man” he says this is his plan but is always open to another short notice scrap.

“I was thinking like February but they are back to Columbus in March,” Curtis said. “I was born in Columbus, my dad’s family is from Columbus and I’ve lived in Cincinnati which is an hour away. Columbus is my home and where I grew up so I’d love to fight there in March as I haven’t fought a home in 10 years.”

Who would you like to see Chris Curtis fight next?