Dana White was not overly impressed by Curtis Blaydes’ performance against Alexander Volkov

UFC president Dana White criticized heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes for his performance during his victory over Alexander Volkov at UFC on ESPN 11.

Blaydes was able to win a unanimous decision with scores of 49-46, 48-47 and 48-46 over Volkov as he used his wrestling to take his opponent down at will and control him on the mat. However, Blaydes was not able to get the finish despite having so much top control time on the mat, and not only that but he looked exhausted in the last two rounds. Despite some scares late in the fight, he was still able to get his hand raised.

But while Blaydes was able to get the decision on the judges’ scorecards, it was far from his most impressive performance in the UFC. After defeating Junior dos Santos and Shamil Abdurakhimov by strikes in his last two fights, Blaydes was expected to finish Volkov but he was not able to get the finish despite the lopsided scorecards. The lack of a finish drew moans from fans watching the fight on social media, who wanted a finish.

After the event, White criticized Blaydes for his performance at the UFC on ESPN 11 post-fight press conference.

Dana White on Curtis Blaydes performance & asking for title fight. He also adds, “When you talk sh*t like he talked this week, then you better come & whoop someone’s ass” #UFCVegas3 pic.twitter.com/dxbwlyG80h

— Helen Yee (@HelenYeeSports) June 21, 2020

“I like Curtis Blaydes but Curtis Blaydes has the wrong attitude as far as I’m concerned, you know?” White said.

“I don’t have anything against the kid at all, but you know, when you talk sh*t like he did this week, then you better come in and whoop somebody’s ass if you talk sh*t like that. When you talk the sh*t he talked and you performed the way he performed tonight, he looked stupid.”

White was obviously not happy with some of the comments that Blaydes made during fight week regarding fighter pay. But ultimately, White made it seem like he was mostly just disappointed by Blaydes’ performance in the bout.

Asked if Blaydes could get a title shot considering his current four-fight win streak, White immediately shot that idea down. The UFC president said that Francis Ngannou, who has two TKO wins over Blaydes, is next in line for the belt. He also encouraged Blaydes to take another fight in the meantime.

“How do you give (Blaydes) the title fight? His two losses are to Francis. How do you give him the title fight over Francis? Yeah, he would be considered next in line. With his performance tonight and his cardio, I wouldn’t wait around if I was him. I’d stay active, I’d stay busy,” White said.

Do you agree with what Dana White said about Curtis Blaydes?