Curtis Blaydes had every reason to pull out of UFC 313 last month.
The long-time heavyweight contender was set to meet the debuting Rivzan Kuniev on the card. It was definitely a surprising matchup, but fans were disappointed all the same when it fell through at the last minute.
Having said that, it’s impossible to fault Blaydes for withdrawing from his UFC 313 fight. The heavyweight was forced out of action by a bad bout of Norovirus, and from the sounds of it, it wasn’t pretty.
“Yeah, it’s rough,” Blaydes told Home of Fight, recounting the illness (h/t MMA Mania). “I can’t speak for everyone, but in my own experience, it’s about 12 hours of pissing out of your butt. It’s rough. And it’s very dehydrating. It’s not just the diarrhea. It’s also nausea. You’re throwing up. You can’t hold down even a drop of water. It wasn’t a good a good experience.
“That’s why I had to call off the fight,” Blaydes continued. “I’m not going to risk my ranking and my legacy and everything I’ve built up because I got a virus the morning of the park. So, it was easy decision.”