Jan Blachowicz Calls For Middleweight Title Fight With Israel Adesanya
Jan Blachowicz has a victory over UFC middleweight world champion Israel Adesanya at light heavyweight. Now he’s open to running it back at 185 pounds.
After dropping his title to Glover Teixeira at UFC 267 in October, the Cieszyn, Poland native bounced back with a third-round TKO over Aleksandar Rakic in a title eliminator. Now it looks like Blachowicz may have to wait in line for a crack and new light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka.
After his win over Teixeira at UFC 275 to capture his first world title in the promotion, the stars were aligned for a European showdown between Poland’s Jan Blachowicz and the Czech Republic’s Jiri Prochazka. Now it appears that ‘Denisa’ has different plans.
“Hello everybody. I wish you a great day, and I made [a decision] for my next fight: I want to fight Glover the next fight,” said Prochazka in a post on Instagram.
Jan Blachowicz Willing to ‘Sacrifice’ Himself to Make The 185-Pound Limit
Voicing his displeasure with Prochazka’s statement, Jan Blachowicz may have found another opportunity at UFC gold. During an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Blachowicz discussed the possibility of moving down to middleweight to challenge ‘The Last Stylebender’ for his crown.
“Maybe this is the reason that now he will be very careful in the fights to not make any mistakes. Just don’t lose the fight. Maybe I have to cut the weight and give him rematch in his category. If I have a chance, why not? For Izzy and his belt, to fight for the belt? I can try.”
Making the 185-pound weight limit could prove to be a daunting task for the Polish wrestler. Blachowicz typically tips the scales at the 205-pound light heavyweight limit and the lightest weight he can remember competing at is still 15 pounds heavier than the middleweight world title fight requirement.
“I don’t remember [the lightest I’ve been as an MMA fighter] but when I was a fighter in Muay Thai, it was 91 kilos or [200 pounds],” he said. “For a title, I can sacrifice myself a little bit. Why not? I will do it.”
One other hiccup in a potential rematch is that Israel Adesanya is slated to face former Glory kickboxing rival Alex Pereira following his first-round knockout of Sean Strickland at UFC 276. With a built-in story, it’s highly unlikely that the UFC would opt to give Blachowicz a middleweight title shot over ‘Poatan’.
The end result could leave Blachowicz waiting an extended period of time for a title opportunity or accepting a bout with another top contender and putting his spot in line at risk.
