Blaydes too sharp for Daukaus in Columbus

Curtis Blaydes made it six wins from his last seven matches when he finished Chris Daukaus in the heavyweight main event of a UFC Fight Night at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on Sunday morning.

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‘Razor’ (who moves to 16-3, 1 NC, 11KO) landed a massive right hand which dropped Daukaus and left him helpless to the ground attack which followed, forcing the referee to stop the fight 17 seconds into the second round.

The 31-year-old American believes he deserves an interim title shot, given that current heavyweight king Francis Ngannou is in a contract dispute with the UFC and unlikely to compete in 2022 after recently undergoing knee surgery.

“I think I deserve an interim title shot against [Ciryl] Gane,” Blaydes said. “I want next. I want the title shot. We can do it anytime this summer. June, July, August, I’m down.”

Stipe Miocic, former heavyweight champion and the man Ngannou beat to claim the belt, was in attendance in Columbus and Blaydes directed a respectful callout.

“I want to be just like you Stipe, that means I may have to beat you, but I definitely respect the hell out of you,” Blaydes said. “You’re one of the best in the world, one of the best all-time in the division. I respect the hell out of you.”

In the co-main event, a women’s flyweight bout, Alexa Grasso claimed a first-round submission victory (thanks to a rear-naked choke) over Joanne Wood. The remainder of the fights on the main card all went the distance of three rounds, opening with Marc Diakiese defeating Viacheslav Borschev via unanimous decision in the lightweight division.

Neil Magny and Bryan Barberena claimed split decision wins in the welterweight division over respective opponents Max Griffin and Matt Brown, while Kai Kara France outpointed fellow flyweight Askar Askarov.

The UFC takes a two-week break before returning with a pay-per-view event, UFC 273, at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville on Sunday 10 April, headlined by a featherweight championship bout between Alexander Volkanovski and Chan Sung Jung.

UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Daukaus – Main card results

- Main event: Heavyweight: Curtis Blaydes def. Chris Daukaus via TKO (punches), R2, 0:17

- Co-main: Women’s flyweight: Alexa Grasso def. Joanne Wood via submission (rear-naked choke), R1, 3:57

- Welterweight: Bryan Barberena def. Matt Brown via split decision (29-28 28-29 29-28), R3, 5:00

- Flyweight: Kai Kara-France def. Askar Askarov via unanimous decision (29-28 29-28 29-28), R 3, 5:00

- Welterweight: Neil Magny def. Max Griffin via split decision (29-28 28-29 29-28), R3, 5:00

- Lightweight: Marc Diakiese def. Viacheslav Borschev via unanimous decision (30-27 30-27 30-27), R3, 5:00