Chris Curtis already in talks to return in December after TKO win over Phil Hawes at UFC 268

Chris Curtis is already looking to get back into action.

Curtis made his long-awaited UFC debut at UFC 268 as he took on Phil Hawes. Curtis was a sizeable underdog heading into the fight but he pulled off the upset with a first-round TKO.

Early on, Hawes was having success as he was piecing Curtis up. Yet, Curtis landed a big body shot, and right when it landed he knew it was the beginning of the end.

“I felt it and I saw his reaction. He did come out strong and was a lot cleaner than I thought,” Curtis said to BJPENN.com. “But, I was telling people this was my 35th fight and it wasn’t the first time fighting someone who was stronger than me and I’ve had success against them. I have a lot of experience, I’ve seen a lot of things so him having success early wasn’t going to frustrate me or break me. My team and I thought my defense and will were better than his cardio and we were right. I landed that clean body shot and I saw his face and knew it was over.”

When Hawes fell to the ground and Curtis began raining down punches, the ref stepped in to stop the fight. However, Curtis couldn’t believe or process that he won right away as this is something he has dreamed about for years.

“When the ref came in, at first I’m like ‘oh no what did I do.’ Then I realized he was stopping the fight like it’s over, that’s it, I just won my UFC debut by KO in the first round at Madison Square Garden,” Curtis said. “People will never understand my emotions like I don’t have words to describe how magical that moment is.”

Now that he has his first UFC win under the books, Chris Curtis is already in talks to return next month. He says the plan is to stay at middleweight for the time being and continue to be as active as possible.

“Right now the plan is to stay at middleweight and I’m looking to fight in December. Honestly, I’ll hang out at middleweight until sh*t goes sideways and I can retreat to welterweight,” Curtis concluded. “But, the cuts are betters, I can fight better and more often. Some stuff has come up, I was asked to fight a few different names in December, so it looks good. Fingers crossed.”

Who would you like to see Chris Curtis fight next?