There are few heavyweights who have had a tougher debut than Curtis Blaydes. 

After signing with the UFC after only five professional fights, he was given the tall order of stepping into the cage against Francis NGannou in April 2016. After 10 minutes of back-and-forth action, the doctor made the decision to stop the fight due to Blaydes’ swollen eye. 

Fast forward a year and a half and Blaydes’ eye and status have recovered. And despite being asked all of the time, he tells FloCombat’s Top Turtle MMA Podcast he’s not concerned with how quickly he gets a chance to redeem himself against “The Predator,” who is co-headlining UFC 218 against Alistair Overeem on Saturday in Detroit.

“Of course people bring it up a lot. I’m in no hurry to rush the rematch. It’ll happen as long as I keep winning my fights.” Blaydes said. 

Some of that patience is due to knowing that his game needs progress. He knows that there was more he needed to learn before facing such an opponent. 

“I was really raw. I was getting by on just being athletic," he said. 

And wanting to be the best version of himself if/when the rematch does come to fruition is of top priority. 

“I just want to be the best fighter I can be overall. I want my hands to be as smooth as they can be; I want my jiu-jitsu to be as clean as possible,” Blaydes said. “There’s things I can build on my cardio as well.”

But while those things improve, he’s not worried about missing out on the opportunity to fight Ngannou again. Blaydes knows that neither of them are going anywhere. 

“I’m pretty sure he’ll continue to win at a high rate as he has been... I know [the rematch is] gonna happen, so I’m not in a rush,” Blaydes said.

In the meantime, Blaydes is looking for fights that will move him further up the heavyweight ladder.

“There’s a few guys ahead of me that would make for a good, high-level fights. I like Alexander Volkov,” Blaydes said. “And I like Marcin Tybura. We both debuted in Croatia last April. He’s an up-and-comer just like myself and he’s been ranked for even longer than me.”

Blaydes is sure both of those fights would bring fans out in droves and get him to the top.

“Either of those would make for good fights,” he said.