Jan Blachowicz headed to eye surgery on Monday

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz suffered a cut near the tear duct region of his left eye during the first round of the UFC Vegas 54 main event on Saturday.

The top 205-pound contender faced No. 3 ranked Aleksandar Rakić in the featured bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The match suddenly ended early in the third frame after Rakic suffered a knee injury that rendered him unable to continue.

During the event’s post-fight press conference, Blachowicz revealed that he’s going to have hopefully a ‘small surgery’ on Monday to repair the damage to his eye.

“I’m going to have some small surgery Monday on this eye. Doctors say, maybe going to be small, or maybe going to be bigger. He doesn’t know yet. He needs to check,” Blachowicz said.

With the win over the No. 3 ranked Rakic, Blachowicz believes he’s earned a shot at the title he once owned.

“I was number one, Rakic was number three. For me, it’s obvious. I am the number one contender now for the title shot,” Blachowicz said.

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