Curtis Blaydes Urges Josh Hokit to Consider 205 Pounds

Curtis Blaydes said Josh Hokit may be better served at 205 pounds after Hokit absorbed a large amount of damage in their three-round battle. Blaydes also said Hokit could beat Derrick Lewis on June 14 at the White House if Lewis shows up disengaged and willing to give up takedowns.

Blaydes on Hokit’s jaw

Blaydes said Hokit has a good young jaw, but he did not hide the concern that comes with more of the same at heavyweight. "He has a good young, jaw" he said, then added, "You do that three or four times, that jaw is going to be gone. I don’t think he do that at heavyweight a bunch of times. He might better served going down to light heavyweight because they don’t hit as hard. Yeah, they’re faster but he’s got the wrestling. I don’t know if he can maintain, especially if he wants to fight the way that we just did, like if he uses the wrestling more and relies on that yeah, but then again he’s a smaller heavyweight."

He went further on the long-term picture, saying, "I just think long term, if I was his manager or his brother or whatever, someone in his circle, I would be having serious discussions about let’s give it a year but let’s think about going down to light heavyweight." The caution came after Hokit accepted a quick turnaround from the fight with Blaydes to the Derrick Lewis bout scheduled for June 14.

Derrick Lewis matchup

Blaydes said the Lewis fight turns on which version of Lewis shows up. "Hokit entering [the fight], his jaw is not going to be 100%" he said, then added, "That’s scary going against a guy like Derrick Lewis but then again, the Derrick Lewis that we just saw against Waldo [Cortes-Acosta], he looks like the motivation is gone. If you get a Derrick Lewis that doesn’t really care and just allows you to take him down at will, he can win like that."

He drew the line even tighter: "But if he gets a motivated Derrick Lewis that comes in hunting the big, heavy knockout … I’m going back and forth because we don’t know the version of Derrick Lewis that we’re going to get. If we get the version that I had to fight, I’d go with Derrick. But if we get the one that showed up against Waldo, I go Hokit." Lewis is 41 years old and has gone 3-5 over his past eight fights in the octagon.

Blaydes on future title talk

Blaydes is not ready to put Hokit in the championship lane yet. Asked whether Hokit is a future champion, he answered, "Not yet."

He said the issue is the size of the sample and the quality of the matchups still ahead. "We had a great fight but styles make matchups. Is he able to do that against [Alexander] Volkov? Is he able to do that against a Derrick Lewis? We’re going to see. Is he going to be able to do that against Waldo? I do believe he’d beat Waldo" Blaydes said. For now, the next test is not a title run. It is whether Hokit can keep taking this kind of damage at heavyweight, or whether 205 pounds becomes the safer path.