LAS VEGAS – UFC middleweight Chris Curtis It’s still recovering, but it’s getting there.
The hamstring he injured in April during the final seconds of his unanimous decision loss to Brendan Allen is approaching the final stages of recovery. It may never be the same, admitted Curtis (31-11 MMA, 5-3 UFC) – but it will be good enough.
“I’m a lot better than I was,” Curtis said Wednesday while speaking to MMA Junkie Radio at Virgin Hotels’ SEICon. “We’ve had a lot of improvements. I still had a difference between my legs in terms of strength. But they’re thinking that might be where I am now. Like, I’m missing part of my hamstring. It simply disappeared. It’s spawned. Gone forever. So this could be my new normal. … You have three parts of the hamstring. The internal part has two fixing heads. One of those heads simply disappeared forever, never to be seen again. It was just destroyed in the injury. It simply disappeared.
“You know what? This is life. You’ve got half of that hamstring now. It is what it is. I feel good. I went back to training this week. Last week was my first full week of training. We did the same thing this week. I’m back to wrestling. I’m back to sparring and everything. This might just be my new normal.
Back in training, Curtis hopes to return in October. Now that he’s earned the UFC’s respect for his “anytime, anywhere” attitude, Curtis told the promotion who he wants to be next and when.
“Personally, they already know,” Curtis said. “I want to fight Paulo Costa. I think it’s a fun fight. That’s an asshole. That would be really fun. Nothing against Paulo Costa. I like Paulo Costa, but I feel that, honestly, he should have won the last fight. … I thought I won. Most of the world thought I won. But one of the judges was clearly high. So the other one was influenced in the last 10 seconds. Which judge scored four rounds to one. … Are you drunk. Never judge again. You were terrible.
“…I thought I would be in the top 10. I didn’t understand. Let me fight Costa. Give me my chance to be in the top 10. I always jump if you guys need a fight. I’m the guy who enters. Let me have Costa. I think it would be really fun.”
Curtis, 37, has bounced between welterweight and middleweight throughout his UFC tenure, with mixed results against mid- and higher-level competition. He is 3-3 with one no contest in his last seven starts.
Costa, 33, has already competed twice in 2024, losing both fights by unanimous decision. The first was against Robert Whittaker; the second against Sean Strickland. The losses drop Costa to 1-4 in his last five fights. His immediate next move is unclear.
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