Curtis Millender has seen great improvement since his Bellator MMA days where he went just 2-2 in the promotion. The man they call “Curtious” has been on a three-fight winning streak (and nine overall) since debuting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
This weekend, he will go up against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, and a win over the Brazilian may just get him inside the top 15. The UFC Fight Night 146 co-headliner will happen at the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas. Let these numbers show you what the CSW team standout is all about.
76: Inches of arm reach. At 6’3”, Millender towers above most, if not all, of his peers at 170. So far, he has made great use of his height and reach advantage.
7: Fights for Fight Club OC, wherein he went undefeated. On his sixth fight, Millender won the promotion’s vacant welterweight title against future UFC fighter Dominic Waters.
48: Seconds needed to beat James Chaney for his first title defense. After that fight, he relinquished the belt as he was signed by Bellator.
4: Fights at Bellator. Millender suffered two straight losses and was released by the promotion, only to be re-signed three months after. He then earned his first victory, which was a unanimous decision over Steven Ciaccio. “Curtious” subsequently fought for two regional promotions before gracing the Bellator cage for the fourth time, where he knocked out Cisneros.
2: Consecutive fights where he challenged for gold. On June 25, 2016, he won the Lights Out welterweight championship by beating Casey Greene. Exactly one month after, he faced Ozzie Alvarez for the vacant Fight Club OC welterweight title and won.
3: Fights at Legacy Fighting Alliance. “Curtious” was undefeated inside the LFA cage. He won a decision over Kevin Holland and knocked out Matthew Frincu and Nick Barnes.
47: Significant strikes against Thiago Alves’ 33 at UFC Fight Night 126. Millender caught the former title challenger with a knee that sent Alves to the ground, effectively ending the fight at 4:17 of round 2. It earned Millender his first Performance of the Night bonus.
38: Significant strikes against Max Griffin’s 44 at UFC 226. While Griffin outpointed him overall, it was Millender who landed the more telling blows, especially in the later rounds. This earned him the judges’ nods. All three of them scored the bout 29-28 in his favor.
89: Significant strikes against Siyar Bahadurzada’s 40 at UFC 232. Millender displayed some crisp striking on his way to taking the unanimous decision victory.
48: Percent striking accuracy. Of the 365 significant strikes he attempted, Millender landed 174. That’s after only three fights inside the Octagon.
1: Takedown scored in UFC competition. Millender has only attempted and completed one takedown in the Octagon, and that’s against Max Griffin.
6: Wins by KO or TKO. His victims include Blake Belshe, Chaney, Johnny Cisneros, Frincu, Barnes and Alves.