Josh Howitt made a highly unusual appearance at the UFC media day with a disturbing and theatrical statement. He claimed he would defeat Curtis Blaydes, decapitate him, and attach his head to Alex Pereira's body, then create a grotesque "human centipede" by sewing together ranked fighters from positions three through one. Howitt said he would then walk this creation on a leash in his yard. The bizarre speech drew comparisons to Jhonny Silva and left observers questioning what he had taken before the appearance.
Josh Howitt turned heads at a UFC media day on April 8 with one of the stranger pre-fight speeches in recent memory, delivering a theatrical and deeply unsettling declaration ahead of his bout with Curtis Blaydes.
Howitt told assembled media that he would not merely beat Blaydes but decapitate him, then surgically attach Blaydes' head to the body of light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. He went further, describing a plan to sew together the ranked fighters sitting at positions three through one into a grotesque human chain, which he would then walk on a leash around his yard. The speech drew immediate comparisons to the infamous ringside rants of Jhonny Silva and left onlookers openly wondering about Howitt's state of mind before the appearance.
Blaydes, nicknamed Razor, is a 35-year-old heavyweight out of Elevation Fight Team who carries a 19-6-0 record and currently sits ranked fourth in the division. Standing six-foot-four with an 80-inch reach, he is one of the most prolific takedown artists in the UFC, averaging 5.38 takedowns per 15 minutes.
Pereira, the reigning light heavyweight champion, is a 38-year-old Brazilian out of Teixeira MMA and Fitness with a 13-4-0 record. Also six-foot-four with a 79-inch reach, Poatan lands an eye-catching 5.16 significant strikes per minute at 62 percent accuracy, numbers that underline why his name carries weight even when invoked in someone else's fever dream.
Why it matters
- Howitt's outburst keeps attention on a heavyweight contest that already carries divisional stakes with a ranked opponent involved
- Dragging Pereira's name into the speech raises the profile of the moment beyond the Blaydes matchup itself
- The comparison to Jhonny Silva signals that the MMA world views this as a genuine outlier even by the loose standards of fight-week theatrics
