Chris Curtis Clarifies Roman Kopylov Spying Allegations As ‘Series of Coincidences’

UFC middleweight Chris Curtis, who will be fighting on the main card of the first UFC event of 2025, recently made headlines for retracting his accusation against upcoming opponent Roman Kopylov, alleging that the Russian fighter had sent spies into his training camp at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas.

The controversy unfolded ahead of the pair's upcoming bout at UFC Vegas 101, when Curtis publicly called out Kopylov in an Instagram post.

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However, Curtis has since acknowledged that the situation was nothing more than a string of bizarre coincidences. During a conversation with Sports Illustrated, Curtis explained how the misunderstanding unfolded. The two Russian fighters he had suspected of spying on him turned out to be helping as corners for light heavyweight Bogdan Guskov, who had previously trained at Xtreme Couture. Guskov had recently returned to Las Vegas to prepare for his upcoming fight against Johnny Walker at UFC 311, and with most gyms closed for the Christmas season, Guskov went to train at Xtreme, which stayed open through the holidays.

Curtis noted that Guskov's teammates had coincidentally left Xtreme Couture and later appeared at the UFC Performance Institute, where Kopylov was training, and people sent him photos of the Russian contingent together. This fueled Curtis's suspicions, but a face-to-face meeting with Kopylov helped clear the air.

“I always say there’s no such thing as coincidences and apparently I’m wrong because they're a very real thing,” Curtis told SI. “I’m very rarely wrong, but when I am, on occasion, I will admit I was wrong.”

Curtis, who will be fighting in his 44th professional fight, has hinted that while he is now 37 years old, the thoughts of what is next have started to creep in. “I always thought that I would fight until I was 40 and then consider hanging it up. The reality is a title shot probably isn’t in the picture, but I never fought with the sole goal of winning the belt. I fight to test myself.”