UFC middleweight Chris Curtis has competed in a number of weight classes throughout his professional career, but hopes his current division remains his home from here on out.
As he did in his Dana White’s Contender Series appearance and PFL stint, Curtis (30-10 MMA, 4-2 UFC) competed at welterweight in his final bout before getting the long-awaited call from the UFC. What made the deal even sweeter was that he was signed to compete at middleweight, which meant he didn’t have to struggle before fighting high-level opposition. Although he could make the weight class if he absolutely needed to, Curtis hopes his days at welterweight are done.
“I could make 170, but it sucks,” Curtis told MMA Junkie Radio. “One-seventy requires a significant sacrifice of lifestyle and happiness, and just my quality of life dips tremendously at ’70 – but I know I could still do it. I always said when I got signed, you know ’85, I was playing with house money, because I’m never supposed to be here. Then I f*cked around and got ranked.
“So now, I’m not really so sure if I’m playing with house money anymore because they have this expectation of me, but I’ve been a welterweight my entire career, we put on some weight to fight at ’85, then we had to lose weight because I got too big. So, we’re still trying to figure out my correct ’85 body size.”
Curtis, 35, admits he’s a fighter that’s still finding his footing. At UFC 287, he dropped a controversial unanimous decision to former title challenger Kelvin Gastelum, which halted the momentum of a stoppage win over Joaquin Buckley at UFC 282. He currently holds the No. 14 spot at middleweight in the UFC’s official promotional rankings.
Having traded wins and losses over his past four bouts, but with three bonuses in five UFC bouts total, Curtis has proven to be an exciting attraction despite the mixed results. He will have the opportunity to get back on track on June 10 at UFC 289 when he takes on Nassourdine Imavov.
“I had to re-learn how to fight at middleweight,” Curtis said. “I literally had to go change style, had to change my diet – I got big, I got small. It’s been a work in progress. But, you know, with these adjustments, if I’m not performing at a level that I feel I could at ’85, just because of my size, then I will entertain going back to ’70. I don’t want to, but my goal is to do this as long as I can, as successfully as I can.
“At ’85, I’ve been doing well, but you know I’m 5’10”, 200 pounds, 205 on my heaviest day. You got guys walking around 220 at this weight. I don’t want to be a welterweight, man. God, that was so bad. But if it comes down to me not performing or me having to suffer, I’m going to choose to suffer every time.”
