UFC 304 is perhaps the biggest opportunity in the career of Curtis Blaydes. After 10 years as a pro, the 33-year-old finally has his chance at UFC gold against Tom Aspinall in the main event on 27th July. But who’s helping ‘Razor’ prepare for it? That is what we’re going to look at today ahead of his big-time clash in Manchester.

Curtis Blaydes hopped into the cage for the first time as a pro fighter in 2014. The Nowhere native had initial plans to reach the Olympics, which sadly did not happen, but after listening to one of his friends, he took up boxing. That slowly led him to MMA and the team that he trains with is no less than world-class.

Where does Curtis Blaydes train? Coaches, gym, and teammates

‘Razor’ started his MMA journey with Dutch Style MMA gym in the early 2000s. But in 2016, Curtis Blaydes would join the Elevation Fight Team. His current team is known for coaches who own multiple training institutes, including High Altitude MMA and Vital Training Systems, where the 33-year-old trains. ‘Razor’s coaches include the duo of Vinnie Lopez and Cody Donovan, and interestingly, the latter used to compete in Dana White’s promotion.

On the teammates’ front, Curtis Blaydes has some real veterans, like Cory Sandhagen and Neil Magny, training alongside him. UFC fighters like Rafa Garcia, Chepe Mariscal, Miranda Maverick, and TUF 31 finalist Austin Hubbard, are also on the same team as ‘Razor’ Blaydes.

Some of Curtis Blaydes’s teammates, like Corey Sandhagen, also wear the coach’s hat, and for the ‘Sandman’, he trains students at High Altitude MMA. Meanwhile, having trained Blaydes for almost a decade now, his coach Cody Donovan once laid some claims about the heavyweight star, believing that the 33-year-old could indeed become a UFC champion.

Blaydes’ coach describes the UFC heavyweight’s skills

Curtis Blaydes has 18 wins and 4 losses in his career, a record that may not make fans believe he’s on the same level as Jon Jones, who has only one controversial loss. But Cody Donovan claims ‘Razor’ is not someone to sleep on. Having a wrestling-heavy background hasn’t stopped him from becoming an efficient striker. “Curtis Blaydes is a dangerous man. He is dynamic. His striking game grows every fight. The things that we see as coaches his fans haven’t seen yet,” Donovan stated before the Sergei Pavlovich fight.

When fans witness heavyweight clashes, they often look for finishes, mostly knockouts. Nevertheless, there are many credible grapplers, like the champion Jon Jones, but Curtis Blaydes’s coach surprisingly claims that ‘Razor’ is way ahead of all of them. “He has the most dangerous ground game of any heavyweight in the history of the heavyweight division,” Cody Donovan added.

The 10-year grind will finally get its due on June 27, or will it? Can Curtis Blaydes become the interim heavyweight champion? Let us know in the comments down below.