Curtis Blaydes isn’t big on callouts, but after proclaiming Derrick Lewis was an ‘easy money’ fight last year, he thought for sure it was going to happen.
The comment came after Lewis earned a split decision over Blagoy Ivanov at UFC 244 and Blaydes was looking for an opponent after earning back-to-back wins over Shamil Abdurakhimov and Justin Wills. Lewis even acknowledged the callout and said he would be more than happy to face Blaydes in his next fight.
Then a funny thing happened.
The UFC called Blaydes and asked him to face former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos instead as the main event for the upcoming event in Raleigh, N.