While I think Cody East is a solid prospect in the HW division I just think Curtis is a bad matchup for him. Just a few points:
- The kicks play a big factor in Cody East striking arsenal and in this fight he is fighting a guy who will want to take him down from the start. That means that either Cody will be more reserved with his kicks or he will be taken down.
- East is like 15lbs heavier (fatter) than in his last fight. You have to wonder if that is a strategy going against a guy who apparently cuts to make HW limit (Razor weighted in at 265.5?) in order to not be in strenght disparity. Anyways... putting 15lbs of fat in a couple of months does not seems smart to me.
- East is the better striker. Blaydes has really heavy leg kicks and a powerful jab but he needs a lot of work there. He is really raw and young and that is the reason Im expecting him to be the better version of himself. He showed an amazing chin and recovery against Francis Ngannou.
- While everybody can see that Blaydes wrestling abilities has yet to make a full transition, he showed a really good double leg takedown. I dont expect East to explode the clear flaws in Blaydes top control. In fact, and this is key to the fight: I think that Blaydes top game is way better than East back game, and believe you me, I think this fight is getting to the mat with Curtis on top at some point.