CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 09: Curtis Blaydes reacts after defeating Alistair Overeem of England by TKO in the third round of their heavyweight bout during the UFC 225: Whittaker v Romero 2 event at the United Center on June 9, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

UFC Beijing headliner Curtis Blaydes may have the edge in his rematch against Francis Ngannou, but that doesn’t mean he is taking the fight lightly.

For UFC heavyweight Curtis Blaydes, the rematch between he and Francis Ngannou at UFC Beijing is past the point of avenging the sole loss of his career. This is about his path to the title.

Over two years ago, Blaydes made his UFC debut against Ngannou at UFC Fight Night: Rothwell vs. dos Santos. Despite having some success against Ngannou, there were minor flaws in Blaydes’ approach to the fight and after being hit by some hard shots courtesy of Ngannou, it was stopped due to Blaydes’right eye being closed up.

As many fighters do after suffering a loss, Blaydes spent some time reflecting on the way it all unfolded. But he didn’t completely dwell on it. Instead, Blaydes licked his wounds and got right back to work just six months later, defeating Cody East via TKO in a ‘Performance of the Night’ winning effort. From there, Blaydes knocked off his next five opponents and moved his way up the heavyweight rankings to a solid No. 3 standing.

Losing for the first time didn’t have that big of an effect on Blaydes. Why? Because he knew his best was yet to come.

“I don’t put that much into losses. He beat the old Curtis and now I’m a totally different fighter,” Blaydes told FanSided on Wednesday. “Ever since that loss, I moved on. I moved to Colorado and I just became a whole new fighter, so I know whatever happened back then doesn’t have any impact on today.”

While some are able to fix the holes in their gameplan after a loss, most don’t get the chance to do it against the very person they were exploited by to begin with. Blaydes’ situation is a rare one, and he is prepared to come into the fight with a better idea of how to defeat Ngannou.

“I’m gonna do a better job of pulling my hands so that I don’t end up with a swollen eye after two rounds and then they have to stop the fight. That’s probably the biggest thing I’ll do differently,” said Blaydes. “Just my footwork. I’ll do a better job of disguising my takedown attempts and once I do get him on the ground, I’m not going to let him up. I’m gonna elbow him until the referee has to pull me off of him.”

Following the start of Blaydes’ impressive streak, Ngannou went on one as well and found himself in front of the former heavyweight champion, Stipe Miocic. It was the brutal knockout of Alistair Overeem at UFC 218 that had the mixed martial arts world thinking he could be the man to defeat the most successful heavyweight champion in UFC history.

But he wasn’t. The aura of world-beater didn’t follow Ngannou into the Octagon that night as he was dominated by Miocic. Then, given an opportunity to redeem himself, Ngannou was put up against future title challenger, Derrick Lewis at UFC 226.

In another disappointing performance, Ngannou barely engaged with Lewis, which was not usual behavior from the former title challenger, but it was enough for him to be written off by fans. Blaydes, however, isn’t writing Ngannou off just yet.

Blaydes is aware of the kind of position Ngannou is in and that’s exactly why he is still treating him as the destroyer he was once known as.

“I’m gonna treat him as a wounded animal and that’s when a wounded animal is at their most violent. When they’re backed up into a corner and that’s where he is right now,” said Blaydes. “He knows another loss – it doesn’t look well, and it could very well end up being what gets him released so I know he’s gonna be coming out and hopefully be the best version of him that we’ve seen yet.

“He’s fighting for his next contract right now. He knows that if he loses, he could end up on the chopping block so I’m gonna fight him as if he has the belt because this is what’s gonna lead me to getting the belt. If I beat him, that’s another step in the direction for me to get the title shot so I can’t afford to take him lightly. And I won’t.”

If Blaydes were to defeat Ngannou, he would have extended his win streak to six (it’d be seven if you don’t count the No Contest against Adam Milstead) and he should be in prime position to challenge for the title against current heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. However, with the current state of the division, Blaydes isn’t entirely sure he’d get a title shot.

“That’s a hard question to answer because it all depends on how you’re judging who deserves a title shot. If they’re judging based off of meritocracy, then yeah, I should be the number one contender but that’s not how this business is run. It’s not a meritocracy. This is the entertainment business. That’s why Derrick Lewis just had a title shot,” said Blaydes. “He didn’t earn it based off his skill set. He earned it off his post-fight interviews and that’s not really my skillset.

“So, no I’m probably not gonna get a title shot after this fight. But I feel like with me, I’m only 27 years old so I’m not in a rush. I’ll get it eventually even if I have to clean out the whole division.”

Blaydes may be content in continuing his work to the title, but realistically, there are only a few opponents for him to take on before getting the inevitable. An opponent that comes to mind is the aforementioned Miocic, who Blaydes has called for before. When asked about a potential fight with the former champion, Blaydes believes he’s the only option for Miocic if he doesn’t get the Cormier rematch, but doesn’t see that fight materializing.

As for a fight with Cormier, there are so many factors that seem to be keeping Blaydes further away from the belt. While Blaydes used to get disheartened when looking at his future and not seeing a fight with Cormier in it, he has since made peace with that fight not becoming a reality.

“It’s not gonna happen. I gave up on that a while ago. I’m a realist,” said Blaydes. “I used to get discouraged but that’s when I was being naïve and actually believing like I said, this is based off of meritocracy. Now that I understand how its run, I’m just in it to get my money. As long as I’m staying active [and] I’m getting fights, eventually they’ll have to give me a title shot so I’ll just wait. I’ll take the long road.”

UFC Beijing is set for Saturday, Nov. 24 in Beijing, China at the Cadillac Arena. Follow along with FanSided MMA for live results and highlights.