Jan Blachowicz is open to rematching Israel Adesanya, so long as it’s for the middleweight title.
Earlier this month, Adesanya defended his belt for the fifth time, winning a lackluster decision over Jared Cannonier at UFC 276. The win earned Adesanya a lot of criticism for his defensively-minded approach, particularly after promising to deliver a spectacular performance, and had some people arguing that Adesanya’s loss to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259, during a failed attempt to move up and claim the light heavyweight title, has caused “The Last Stylebender” to become totally risk averse, to the detriment of entertainment. Fortunately, Blachowicz has a solution to the problem: they run the fight back, this time at 185 pounds.
“Maybe this is the reason that now he will be very careful in the fights to not make any mistakes,” Blachowicz told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “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.”
Blachowicz is a career light heavyweight, having never competed outside the weight class during his MMA run, and so many might assume that the man with the “Legendary Polish Power” is just having a laugh, but the former UFC light heavyweight champion says he’s absolutely serious.
“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],” Blachowicz said. “For a title, I can sacrifice myself a little bit. Why not? I will do it.”
Blachowicz’s comments come after recently finding himself win a state of limbo in the light heavyweight division. Blachowicz defeated Aleksandar Rakic in May, winning when Rakic suffered a knee injury, and appeared to be in line for the first crack at newly crowned light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka, but earlier this week “Denisa” stated he wants a rematch with Glover Teixeira next, leaving Blachowicz out in the cold. And if neither Prochazka or Adesanya wants the smoke, well, Blachowicz is also willing to entertain a fight with welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, after the two shared a face off backstage at UFC 276.
“He’s big, so who knows?” Blachowicz said. “If he wants to do it. If not Jiri, why not him?”
With two of the “Three Kings” now firmly in his crosshairs, the question becomes how long until Blachowicz targets heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou? And with Blachowicz already saying he intends to move up to heavyweight in a couple of years, a callout of Francis Ngannou can’t be far behind.
