Curtis Blaydes shares how his father's inspiring story helped him with his stutter: "I looked up to him"

Curtis Blaydes has shed light on how his father motivated him to deal with the speech impediment of stuttering. Blaydes has been quite vocal about his stutter. 'Razor' has garnered widespread appreciation for inspiring other people who deal with similar challenges.

Blaydes is scheduled to face interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall in a rematch. Their first encounter, which was a non-title bout in July 2022, sawAspinall suffer a gruesome knee injury and lose via first-round TKO.

Their rematch will be an interim heavyweight championship match that'll co-headline UFC 304 (July 27).

On the 'UFC 304 Countdown' episode, Curtis Blaydes addressed his upcoming fight. He also recalled the bullying he faced, especially during his younger years, due to his speech disorder. The 33-year-old cited his father as his role model and stated:

"Originally, I'm from the south side of Chicago, Illinois. I have a stutter. I've had it for as long as I can remember. I got it from my dad. It's genetic. And growing up with it, kids are mean everywhere, but especially in Chicago, they rip you apart."

"And my dad, he helped me build the tougher skin 'cause he already had the experience and he got over his. So, I just - I looked up to him. Like, if he could get over it, and become a police officer, and be able to speak with authority; I could do it too."

Curtis Blaydes asserted that participating in sports helped with his confidence. He indicated that his high school coach got the most out of him as a wrestler and made him fall in love with wrestling, which earned him a scholarship at NIU (Northern Illinois University).

Blaydes planned to return to school and continue wrestling but a friend of his got him a job. 'Razor' started spending time with the friend and the latter's father who were both involved in MMA, which is how he got into the sport.

Check out Blaydes' comments below (34:52-36:12):

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When Curtis Blaydes addressed speculation of his stutter being caused by CTE from his combat sports career

Certain sections of the MMA community speculated that Curtis Blaydes' stutter was due to his fighting career.

Blaydes previously competed as an amateur wrestler. He made his amateur MMA debut in Sept. 2012 and professional MMA debut in May 2014. 'Razor' has long competed against world-class heavyweights in the UFC.

Taking to X in 2022, Blaydes sounded off on the "idiots" claiming he was afflicted with CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) due to his MMA career. The Illinois-born Colorado-based fighter emphasized that he's had a stutter all his life and that "it's got nothing to do with MMA."

He wrote on X:

"It’s well known by ppl I regularly engage with or know me from school or outside of mma that I’ve had a stutter/ speech impediment my entire life it’s got nothing to do with mma. Too many idiots running around saying “bLaYdEs SoUnDs LiKe HeS gOt CtE."

Furthermore, speaking to MMA Mania in 2023, Blaydes revisited his childhood, highlighting that his mother attempted to help him by sending him to a speech pathologist. Blaydes also noted that he's helping his daughter deal with her stutter.

Blaydes implied that he isn't actively looking to become a role model for others combating such disorders, as it would require significant time and energy but could be one if it happens organically. Moreover, he echoed similar sentiments at the UFC 304 media scrum earlier this week.

Watch Curtis Blaydes talk about his speech impediment below (17:07-19:30):