The newly minted light heavyweight champion, Jan Blachowicz always knew that a fight with middleweight champ, Israel Adesanya would materialize.
Inside the Las Vegas, UFC Apex the huge UFC 259 card features three championship fights. However, one in particular pits two champions from different weight classes together. In fact, the light heavyweight champion also believes he’s a good matchup against the lengthy Adesanya from City Kickboxing Academy. The night will culminate with these two waging war inside the cage. Even before the fight was set in stone, Blachowicz knew from the get-go that Adesanya was on his radar.
“Not right after the fight. But, eight hours after the event I knew they would make this fight,” Jan Blachowicz said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “The UFC sent me a message asked if I wanted to fight against Adesanya in December when I was on the plane back to Poland a couple of hours later. I knew he would be my opponent but not in December, I wanted March.”
Clearly, the fight was in negotiation after Jan Blachowicz admitted that the promotion contacted him. Following his knockout win over Dominick Reyes, it was clear his career trajectory was on the up. Then talks of a possible fight with the middleweight champion Adesanya came together.
At UFC 259, the Polish striker will get an opportunity to make his first title defense and it’s a big one. Not only that, but Jan Blachowicz also believes that his style matches very well against Adesanya’s.
“It is a good matchup for me,” Blachowicz explained. “I’m an underdog like always but I don’t care. When I win this fight, I prove to people that I deserve respect. A lot of people still don’t believe in me.”
Despite being the underdog, Blachowicz presents serious problems on the feet. Since his power is the driving story of the matchup, there is no doubt Adesanya is planning a performance similar to his last one. When the middleweight champion, manages range and picks his shots, it’s an incredibly difficult hill to get over, just ask Paulo Costa.
As UFC 259 approaches, who do you see winning in the light heavyweight championship fight? Israel Adesanya or Jan Blachowicz?