Irish Flyweight Ryan Curtis Returns from 2-Year Layoff: “The Goal is to be the UFC World Champion”

Interview with Ryan Curtis above

After more than two years out of the cage, Irish flyweight Ryan “Chaos” Curtis (5-2) will finally make his long-awaited return to MMA on Sunday, February 20 at ECMMA 8.

Training out of SBG Charlestown under Owen Roddy, Curtis was marked as one of the bright young prospects on the Irish scene in his early pro career. The inner-city Dubliner raced to a 4-0 start across 2015 and 2016 before suffering the first loss of his career when he faced Spaniard Daniel Barez for the BAMMA flyweight title.

It would be more than 18 months later before Curtis stepped re-entered the cage, dazzling the Dublin crowd with a ferocious 1st-round stoppage of Luis Gonzalez at Bellator 217. “Chaos” went on to sign a multi-fight contract with Brave CF following the Gonzalez victory, however, it would turn out to be a short-lived affair. In his promotional debut, Curtis suffered a 1st-round submission loss to now UFC fighter Amir Albazi.

Though matchmaking difficulties would stifle any return to action, Curtis is finally back, and he’s ready to make up for lost time.

“I can’t wait, mate! I think I had like 7 or 8 fights pulled on me last year. Obviously, people see the ones that are on the internet that get pulled, but other ones that had been agreed behind the scenes, they got pulled too,” Curtis told MyMMANews.com.

While Curtis was slated as one of the fighters to watch in Ireland, he feels that the best is yet to come.

“I feel like I haven’t shown so much that I can offer, but people will see!” Curtis told MyMMANews.com.

Although Curtis may not be the name on the tip of everyone’s tongue when Irish prospects are discussed in 2022 due to his inactivity, as far as “Chaos” is concerned, the long-term goal is the same as it was on Day 1:

“The goal is to be the UFC world champion. For me, it’s too tough of a life to not want anything but that. People who are like ‘ah yeah, I just do this for fun. We’ll see where it takes me’, I don’t know what’s wrong with them. There’s something wrong with them people, I feel like. How are you going to go train three times a day or twice a day and put in blood, sweat and tears, and spend time away from your family all for a hobby? That is mind boggling for me. If I thought for one second that I wasn’t capable of being a world champion and getting to the pinnacle of this sport, I wouldn’t do it. I’d just stop now and move on to something else.”

But before there can be any talk of a potential UFC run in the future, Curtis must take his first step through Tom Creasey at ECMMA 8. So, what is he hoping for on Sunday 20th February?

“A good fight! It’s been a while since I’ve been in there. The fans are going to be excited to see me return. At the end of the day, everybody is excited to see me return, and I won’t disappoint. I never do!”

Starting with Creasey, if Curtis can continue to rack up consistent wins on the European circuit, he believes that it’s only a matter of time before the UFC come calling.

“I feel like I’m already on the UFC’s radar. They already know who I am. A good few clean wins and they see how I speak and everything else, how I can execute things and I think Ill be in there no problem,” Curtis explained.

It remains to be seen if Curtis can first stay active and second sign the dotted line for the world’s premier MMA promotion, but for now the Dubliner is focused on bad intentions once the cage door closes. While other fighters revel at the prospect of getting in bloody wars, Curtis has no time for that: