Curtis Blaydes picked up his second win inside the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 104 in Houston earlier this month. He defeated Adam Milstead by second-round TKO, but it didn’t come exactly as planned.

Milstead suffered a devastating knee injury in the first round when Blaydes scored a takedown and still went out to fight in the second. But his knee buckled again — this time, even worse — and the referee was forced to call the bout off, as Milstead was grimacing in pain. Blaydes wasn’t thrilled he won the fight because of an injury, but a win’s a win.

“Overall, I didn’t really get hit much, so always happy about that,” Blaydes told BloodyElbow.com’s The MMA Circus. “And prior to the injury, I was in control of the fight. So I’m still happy with my performance.

“My game-plan was get on top and make him have to grind to stand up. And every time he stood back up work to get him back down.”

Going into the second round, Blaydes wasn’t aware his opponent was hurt.

“I thought he was OK. When he came out in the second round, I thought he was ready to fight. He looked ready to fight.

“I was just so focused on his hips,” he said. “I was looking at his hips. I wanted to just [close] the distance between his hips and my arms, and that’s really all I was focused on. I didn’t see his face or his knee.”

In hindsight, Blaydes doesn’t think Milstead should have continued after the first round, but he understands why the fight went on. (It should also be noted that Milstead’s coach, Mark Cherico, recently claimed that Milstead told him he was fine between rounds. Milstead said himself that he didn’t inform his corner-men of the injury, as well).

“It was up to his corner-men to pull him out of there,” Blaydes said. “But as a competitor, I understand. He probably wouldn’t have been happy with that. So they gave him a chance to compete, and I can’t really blame them for that.”

Milstead wasn’t a ranked fighter going into the Feb. 4 bout, but “Razor” believes he’s ready for a chance to crack into the official UFC heavyweight standings.

“I think so,” he said. “I think that’s the only right thing to do. Give me a top 15 opponent. I think I’m ready for that.

“I got a plan. At the end of this year, I’d like to be ranked top eight. And then two years from now, I’d like to be a legit contender and getting that belt.”

Blaydes is 2-1 in the UFC. He made his debut last April against Francis Ngannou, who defeated him by doctor’s stoppage and would go on to rack up a handful of wins, including a recent mauling of former champ Andrei Arlovski, to skyrocket himself into the heavyweight top 10.

It’s very easy to say that Blaydes has given Ngannou the toughest test of his UFC career thus far. The 26-year-old landed a couple takedowns on “The Predator,” and didn’t get finished due to strikes or submission like the rest of Ngannou’s UFC opponents.

Blaydes isn’t in a rush to get to the top of the division. He wants to eventually rematch Ngannou, but not until both are top contenders in the title mix.

“He put me away, but not legitimate stoppage,” he said. “It was the doctor. I’m not trying to take anything away from him — he was the one who made my eye the way it looked, and that’s what caused the doctor to stop it. But I feel like had [I made it] to the last round, who knows how it would’ve went. I feel like I wasn’t tired, and I think I saw a little fatigue in him.

“So I’d like to get a rematch in due time. Not right away. I’m not in a rush. I’m only 26 years old. I got time to develop. It’s not a sprint. It’s a long race. I’m not in a hurry right now.”