Chris Curtis opted not to discuss his post-fight behaviour in a lengthy statement following his latest defeat.
The middleweight contender is now eyeing a move down to welterweight after suffering his second straight defeat, and his fourth in seven fights. Roman Kopylov handed him the loss with a dramatic final second head-kick TKO.
However, the headlines were made after the fact when Curtis got angry with referee Mark Smith for his decision to stop the fight with a second left. This led to fans mocking his antics online, and he has yet to address that part of the evening.
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Chris Curtis rages at referee after losing to last-second head kick
With the fight tied up at a round apiece last night in Las Vegas, both Chris Curtis and Roman Kopylov needed something big to secure themselves the victory in the third. And with a second on the clock, the Russian landed it with a head kick that saw the fight called.
This sent Curtis into a rage, insisting that the extra second should have been played out. He appeared not to be unconscious as a result of the kick, and as such would have certainly survived to the final bell if he had been allowed to make it there.
However, Smith made his decision and called the fight off, which angered Curtis. Fans on social media were in agreement that it may have been a poor stoppage, but also noted that the American is not exactly the most gracious fighter in defeat at the best of times.
Chris Curtis releases first statement since Roman Kopylov defeat
Following his outburst, Curtis took to Instagram to share a statement reflecting on the night. He boasted of earning $200,000 as a result of getting a $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus, and thanked the UFC for giving him an opportunity.
However, one glaring omission was any mention of the officials and his post-fight run-in. “Only job in the world where you can make 200k in a night and still be absolutely heartbroken and questioning where you go from here,” he wrote.
“No damage, I’m fine. Probably train tomorrow for my sanity but just frustrated and heartbroken. 8 months off. Hamstring tear, broken foot and then a calf tear. Trained through it all. Never lost sight of the goal. Just hurts to come up short.
“Thank you to everyone who reached out, have had a lot of love online and in person, it means the world to me. I guess I should take some comfort in fight of the night, but I only view tonight as a failure. Maybe 170 is the way to go from here.
“Rest this weekend and I guess we have a talk with the team and management about what comes next. Thanks again to @mickmaynard2 for the opportunity to do what I love. I’m not sure who or where I would be without this. Thank you to the @ufcpi , you guys put me back together 3 times this year.
“It was an incredibly hard road back, but @gav_pratt and @heatherlinden and their teams really went above and beyond for me, and I will never not be grateful for that. For now, thankfully, we are uninjured and healthy. We work on figuring out what comes next.
“Thank you everyone at @xcmma, @77natepettitmma_ , @eric_xcmma and @jayhieron for being there for me tonight. Thank you @lancespaude, you really are my brother and I love you. There are a lot of people I won’t name here but thank you all. And I’ll see you when I see you.”
from Bloody Elbow https://ift.tt/BVEscQA
