Chris Curtis: I’ve Been the Underdog since Day One

2021 was a big year for Chris Curtis. After pursuing his dream to make it to the Ultimate Fighting Championship for years, the former CES MMA champion got a chance when he stepped up on 24-hour notice to face Phil Hawes at UFC Fight Night 194. That time, Hawes turned down the fight and the matchup was rescheduled for UFC 268 later that year. While Curtis was regarded as the underdog, “The Action Man” surprised everyone and stopped Hawes with punches in the first frame. Curtis (28-8, 2-0 UFC) scored another impressive victory right before the end of the year when he smashed Brendan Allen at UFC on ESPN 31, piling up his seventh straight victory. While talking to Sherdog, the Team Vision standout confessed that he didn’t mind being the underdog in all those UFC appearances.

“Being the underdog, like the betting lines, [didn’t] really [bother me], more so the predictions and people [saying] like, ‘Chris Curtis sucks,’ and ‘I’ll bet myself my child’s life he’s going to lose.’ I’m like, ‘Wow, people really feel that strongly that I suck.’ The betting lines didn’t bother me because, at the end of the day, I lost a ton of people’s money and I took hell. I find that hilarious. I’m getting messages like, ‘I bet against you and I lost.’ One guy messaged me like, ‘I lost my tuition for grad school because of you,’ and I’m like, ‘You’re an idiot, right, you’re an idiot for that.’ I take great pleasure in those moments. I’ve been an underdog a lot of times in my life. The pipeline to the UFC is different now than it was when I was coming up when I was younger. Now, you’ve got like [Dana White's Contender Series] and a bunch of [Legacy Fighting Alliance] shows, stuff like that. When I was coming up, you only had smaller shows, it wasn’t as clear as a pipeline. I’m from Ohio, so we don’t have any of the bigger shows. I was always the out-of-town guy they brought in to lose. I’ve been the underdog since day one.”

Curtis also discussed the path that brought him to the UFC, his experience on the Contender Series, moving up to the 185-pound division, and more.

(00:00) Intro
(00:40) Going to law school before switching to MMA
(02:52) Being turned down for a UFC contract in 2018
(05:33) On his victory over Brendan Allen
(06:18) What happened when he stepped up on short notice to face Phil Hawes
(09:12) Making his UFC debut at Madison Square Garden
(09:55) The fight he is most proud of in 2021
(11:45) If he was bothered by the fact that he was regarded as the underdog in his UFC fights
(13:27) How his life has changed since joining the UFC
(14:16) Whether he plans to move down to welterweight again
(15:38) Enjoying the journey that brought him to the UFC
(17:11) His favorite Christmas movie
(18:16) His resolutions for 2022
(19:18) Outro

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and he now covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.