Curtis
Blaydes gave everything he had against Josh Hokit
at UFC 327,
but ultimately it wasn’t enough.
The 35-year-old heavyweight veteran dropped a unanimous decision to
Hokit in a “Fight of the Year” contender on Saturday at the Kaseya
Center in Miami. After nearly being finished early by his upstart
opponent, Blaydes rallied for a strong finish in Round 1. However,
Hokit gradually took control over the final 10 minutes to capture a
unanimous decision triumph in a memorable slugfest.
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Blaydes paid tribute to his opponent in a brief statement on social
media.
“Emptied the clip, threw the gun,” Blaydes wrote on Instagram.
“That SOB is tougher to kill than he looks.”
One for the Record Books
When all was said and done, Blaydes (177) and Hokit (174) combined
to land 351 significant strikes, the most ever for a three-round
UFC heavyweight fight. They also set a record for most combined
significant strikes attempted (595). The bout took its toll on
Blaydes, who was hospitalized with a fractured orbital and a broken
nose.
“Did we save heavyweight chat?” Blaydes added in the comments.
Blaydes is now 14-6 with one no contest over the course of a
UFC tenure that began in 2016.