Jan Blachowicz feels his legendary Polish power can break “Bones.”
Turning his back on the division he cemented a historic status in, Jon Jones last fought at Light Heavyweight in Feb. 2020. Earning a controversial unanimous decision win over Dominick Reyes (watch highlights), Jones vacated his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title shortly after, allowing Blachowicz the opportunity of a lifetime.
However, the two were seemingly destined to fight one another after Blachowicz scored redemption in a main event rematch vs. Corey Anderson two weeks later (watch highlights). Instead, Blachowicz went on to battle Reyes over the vacant strap after Jones declined an immediate rematch, according to Reyes.
Blachowicz made good on his title opportunity, becoming champion with a second-round technical knockout of Reyes in Sept. 2020 (watch highlights). Jones, on the other hand, has teased a move to the Heavyweight division with nothing yet to come to fruition.
“I don’t know, this is not a question for me,” Blachowicz said at a fan Q&A on fighting Jones during UFC 275 fight week in Singapore (h/t MMA Junkie). “I’m always open for this fight, but he’s not. I will knock him out. First round.”
Adding that he’s open to colliding with Jones at Heavyweight if he had to, those chances seem more unlikely than at Light Heavyweight. This past week, UFC President Dana White once again mentioned the idea of Jones against former Heavyweight titlist Stipe Miocic.
As for Blachowicz, he’ll await his next step after successfully rebounding off his title-losing effort against Glover Teixeira in Oct. 2021 (watch highlights). The Pol defeated fellow top-ranked contender, Aleksandar Rakic, this past month (May 13, 2022) at UFC Vegas 54, scoring a third-round technical knockout after Rakic suffered a freak knee injury (watch highlights).