There was no new candidate for the exclusive UFC champion-champion club on Saturday night.
That’s what UFC 259’s main event is about, right? The quest for middleweight champion Israel Adesanya to add the light heavyweight belt and become the fifth fighter to command two weight classes simultaneously and strive to become one of the biggest stars in MMA.
Jan Blachowicz? In the predominant narrative that leads to this super fight, the 93 kg champion was just a supporting actor, a role he got used to – and a role he thrived on.
In fact, it would be no surprise if, mixed with the celebration of victory, Blachowicz experienced a small déjà vu.
Going to UFC 259, Blachowicz felt the familiar feeling of being overshadowed. In the past few weeks, most of the attention has been on Adesanya and the superstar opponent that he was no facing on Jon Jones. The oddsmakers even installed Blachowicz as a rare underdog champion. Underdog status is also nothing new; Blachowicz was only the favorite to win twice in his last 10 fights.
But Blachowicz just went ahead and did what he did repeatedly over the past 3 ½ years: He exceeded expectations and made that night his night.
Blachowicz is no stranger to being forgotten or to see the opportunity slip out of his hands, just to confidently enter our field of vision and assert his presence at the most opportune moment. In the fall of 2017, he was 2-4 in the UFC and about to lose his place in the cast. He has won nine of his 10 fights since then.
And yet, while Blachowicz, 38, was steadily climbing the ranks of light heavyweight contenders, the division champion at the time, Jones, was looking in all directions except in the direction of the powerful Polish hitter. Jones had his eye on Adesanya, the middleweight champion with a rapidly rising star and the potential to gain weight. Jones later fixed his gaze on the heavyweight division and its gigantic challenges, and it was there that he chose to direct his career, vacating the light heavyweight title.
Blachowicz then won the vacant title in September, with a knockout from Dominick Reyes that defied the odds. But even with possession of the belt, Blachowicz still felt the twinge of the missed opportunity. He’s in this game to challenge himself, and there’s no greater challenge for a light heavyweight than trying to solve Jones.
It is impossible to ignore that MMA is powered by the power of the stars and how to defeat a superstar like Jones could have boosted Blachowicz’s career.
Now let’s find out if defeating Adesanya, who fought Saturday’s fight on the verge of stardom, has a similar effect. It was not the most dynamic of the victories for Blachowicz, without a moment of prominence, but handing over to another champion his first defeat is a significant achievement. Blachowicz faced yet another challenge head-on and once again came out on top.
It was clearly Blachowicz’s night at the end, but in the beginning, the fight was a balanced contest in which the two men kept their distance and exercised caution. Adesanya used his footwork to stay away from the light heavyweight champion’s strength, and Blachowicz showed respect for the smooth attack and at all angles of the middleweight champion, reacting to every feint and movement. Neither seriously injured the other, but both felt the effects of several significant punches and kicks. And when the championship rounds finally came, Blachowicz took over and refused to hand over control.
The prevailing thought in the fight was that Blachowicz’s power would make a difference if he could land a big punch. But, as things happened, it was the strength on the canvas that won Blachowicz in this fight.
He spent the final three minutes of the 4th round on Adesanya, who never posed a serious threat to escape his position and put the fight back on its feet. And in the middle of the final round, Blachowicz took the fight back to the mat, once again securing the position on top of his opponent, again with no escape route.
The fight ended with Blachowicz in full riding, the most dominant position in the sport, hitting punches and elbows to the sound of the horn. He made the unanimous decision, with two judges scoring the match 49-45 and the other 49-46. It was the first defeat in Adesanya’s professional MMA career. Blachowicz took advantage of the circumstances that were given to him and made the most of it.
This may not be Blachowicz’s performance that will make Jones run back to the 205 pound division. Jones is expected to make his heavyweight debut this summer, challenging the winner of this month’s title fight between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou. If Jones won the heavyweight championship, the 93 kg division would probably never see him again.
But if Jones’ bid failed, especially in a bad defeat during his first fight against someone bigger than him, could he look at the light heavyweights and see Blachowicz through a new lens? After all, Jones made it clear that he looked elsewhere because he did not see the benefit of facing such a discreet fighter. Blachowicz certainly raised his profile when dealing with Adesanya, the New Zealand resident born in Nigeria. It’s a start.
If circumstances send Jones in his direction, Blachowicz would welcome the challenge, even if it took some time for Jones to return to 93 pounds.
“I believe that in the future I will get this fight,” Blachowicz told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto during preparation for this weekend’s fight. “If it is not in the UFC, I will go to Albuquerque and fight him at his academy. We will do that.”
For Blachowicz, this was just a conversation about future encounters. As he spoke these words, his focus was on Adesanya. But now that the welterweight champion is out of the way, all of Blachowicz’s attention will turn to the next man in line at light heavyweight. This seems to be Glover Teixeira, who has won five consecutive fights and at the age of 41 does not have much time to wait.
Blachowicz is on board. “I would like to fight Glover next,” he said.
That is how Jan Blachowicz operates. He took care of business on Saturday night and now we move on to the next part of the job. He’s the type to keep his head down and move on, without being distracted by fantasy clashes or being the A side of the marquee. Being a champion is what he always dreamed of and that is enough for him. For now.