A fight that was rife with tension ahead of time sputtered in terms of excitement, with Curtis Blaydes whitewashing Justin Willis.
The heavyweight bout was the co-main event of today’s UFC on ESPN+ 6 show at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. It streamed on ESPN+.
Blaydes (11-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) was the more mobile man to start, bouncing up and down as he moved around on the outside. After a few probing strikes, Blaydes drove forward and pushed the action to the cage, wrapping the body and eventually using an outside trip to bring the fight to the floor. From there, Blaydes looked to step over to mount, and Willis (8-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) turned to his side and tried to control the wrists as a means of defense. Willis was able to get first to his knees and then his feet, but Blaydes lifted him in the air and slammed him to the floor. Willis again got to a kneeling position with relative ease, but he couldn’t get much further. Willis briefly teased a kimura, but it simply wasn’t there. Willis did crawl back to his feet again, but Blaydes threw him down almost immediately after, and the round finished there.
Blaydes landed a big right had to start the second, rushing forward to capitalize on a wobbled foe. Willis tried to recover, but Blaydes lifted him up and slammed him to the floor. A frustrated Willis looked for a way to get back to his feet, but Blaydes was in complete control of the action. Dominating the positioning, Blaydes laced in punches and elbows in spurts, and Willis had absolutely no answer. The two started jawing a bit in the final seconds, but Blaydes’ corner advised him to stay the course and not engage in such actions.
The briefly exchanged punches to start the third, but Blaydes backed away shortly after, not looking to take too many chances. He shot forward shortly after, again driving the action to the fence and looking to work inside. Willis defended well against the cage, forcing Blaydes to back away, but on the restart, “Razor” drove through for a relatively simple takedown. Willis simply couldn’t do anything before the bell, and Blaydes walked away with a rather one-sided decision win, 30-27, 30-26 and 30-25.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN+ 6 results include:
- Curtis Blaydes def. Justin Willis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)
- John Makdessi def. Jesus Pinedo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Jussier Formiga def. Deiveson Figueiredo via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Luis Pena def. Steven Peterson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Maycee Barber def. J.J. Aldrich via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:01
- Bryce Mitchell def. Bobby Moffett via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Marlon Vera def. Frankie Saenz via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:25
- Jennifer Maia def. Alexis Davis via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Randa Markos def. Angela Hill via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:24
- Chris Gutierrez def. Ryan MacDonald via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jordan Espinosa def. Eric Shelton via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
For complete coverage of UFC on ESPN+ 6, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
