A champion-to-champion fight will take place in March, when current UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz puts his belt on the line against middleweight king Israel Adesanya, who is looking for his second title.
Blachowicz (27-8 MMA, 10-5 UFC) and Adesanya (20-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) hit the clash at UFC 259’s main attraction on March 6. Wednesday after Dana White announced the news to promotional partner ESPN.
UFC 259 has no official location yet. The main card is configured to transmit on ESPN + pay-per-view.
Blachowicz will try to make his first 93kg title defense after capturing the belt that was left by Jon Jones in August. The Polish fighter defeated famous favorite Dominick Reyes with a second round knockout at UFC 253 on September 26, putting UFC gold around his waist for the first time at age 36.
He will try to use his “Polish power” with great success once again against Adesanya, who will try to become the eighth fighter in UFC history to win titles in two weight classes. He would be the first, however, to do so at medium and light heavyweight.
The current 185 pound king sparked the idea of rising for more than a year, but many believed it would be for a super fight against Jones. That will not be the case, as he will challenge Blachowicz after winning a victory in two title defenses in 2020 against Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa.
The latest schedule for UFC 259 now includes:
- Jan Blachowicz vs Israel Adesanya – for the light heavyweight title
- Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson – for women’s featherweight title
- Aleksandar Rakic vs Thiago Santos
- Dominick Cruz vs. Casey Kenney
- Askar Askarov vs Joseph Benavidez
- Sean Brady vs. Jake Matthews
- Randy Costa vs. Trevin Jones
- Aalon Cruz vs. Uros Medic
- Tim Elliott vs Jordan Espinosa