Chris Curtis reveals time he cashed in 'good will' with UFC to decline Alex Pereira
Chris Curtis considers himself to be a fighter’s fighter who will test his talents against any UFC opponent. However, there has been an exception.
Curtis (31-11 MMA, 5-3 UFC), who returns from an injury layoff on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 249 for a middleweight bout with Roman Kopylov (13-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas (ESPN+), said former 185-pound titleholder and current UFC light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira is the only name presented to him during his UFC tenure that he’s turned down.
“The Action Man” was scheduled to fight Kevin Holland at UFC 307 in October before a broken foot forced him to withdraw. He said he would be happy to accept that fight again after Holland’s matchup with Reinier de Ridder at UFC 311 on Jan. 18, mainly because his name is not Pereira (11-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC).
“I don’t care about any particular matchup,” Curtis told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. I’m just here doing things. I like Kevin. I’m hoping he wins. I’m a Kevin Holland fan. He’s a funny dude. I’m always hoping he wins. If they put it back together, fine. If not, whatever. I’m just here to fight people.
“I don’t usually say no unless your name’s Alex Pereira, then I’ve definitely said no. Outside of that, I’m just here to fight people. So whatever comes up, comes up. I just want to have fun fights.”
Curtis said the offer to face Pereira came through in the first half of 2022 when “Poatan” was making his rise through the middleweight division. Although he was in the infancy of his UFC career at that point, Curtis still knew it was the right idea for him to stay away, especially because the offer was within a situation where he wouldn’t have had a full training camp.
“They offered me that fight before Bruno Silva, the Bruno Silva fight, or maybe it’s the one Sean (Strickland) took and they offered it to us first,” Curtis said. “I was like, ‘F*ck no. I’m not fighting him on like kind of short notice.’ I was like, ‘There’s no way.’ Because not only do I not want to fight him – I’m not doing it on short notice.”
Curtis said he faced no negative repercussions from the UFC for turning down the fight. Moreover, he’s glad Pereira departed his weight class shortly thereafter, meaning it’s not a name he’s going to have to worry about coming through on the other side of a contract again.
“I met him in New York in Madison Square Garden, we were in the elevator and I was like, ‘What size are you?'” Curtis said. “People who don’t know Alex Pereira don’t realize how big this man is in real life. It is distressing how large this dude is. I was like, ‘You know what? I don’t have to answer for this, so I’m just going to say no. I’ve said yes to everything else, I’m going to cash that good will in and say, ‘F*ck no’ here.’
“I say yes to every fight but that one. I was like, ‘I do not have a path to victory here. I’m fine.'”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 249.