There were no new members in the UFC Exclusive Champions Club on Saturday night.
That’s what this UFC 259 main event was about, right? Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is trying to add the lightweight belt to become the fifth fighter to lead two weight divisions simultaneously and is heading to become one of the biggest stars in MMA.
Jan Blachowicz? In the dominant narrative that led to this fight, the 205-pound champion was only a supporting actor, a role he got used to – and a role in which he prospered.
In fact, it would not have been a surprise if, mixed with the celebration of his victory, Blachowicz had experienced a small déjà vu.
Entering UFC 259, Blachowicz had felt the familiar sensation of being overshadowed. In the last few weeks, the most attention has been paid to Adesanya and the superstar’s opponent not facing Jon Jones. Oddsmakers have even installed Blachowicz as a rare underdog champion. Underdog status is not new either; Blachowicz has only been favored to win twice in the last 10 fights.
But Blachowicz simply went ahead and did what he did again and again in the last 3 and a half years: He grew up beyond expectations and made him a nightmare.
Blachowicz is no stranger to being overlooked or seeing the opportunity slipping out of his grip, just stepping confidently into our field of vision and asserting his presence at the most opportune moment. Recently, in the fall of 2017, he was 2-4 in the UFC and was on the verge of losing his place on the list. He has since won nine of his 10 fights.
And yet, as Blachowicz, 38, was on the rise among light heavyweight competitors, the division champion at the time, Jones, was looking in all directions but at the mighty slugger in Poland. Jones set his sights on middleweight champion Adesanya, with a fast-growing star and the potential to gain weight. Jones later turned his attention to the weight division and its gigantic challenges, and there he eventually opted to pursue his career, releasing the lightweight title.
Blachowicz then went on to win the vacant title in September, with a second-round knockout of Dominick Reyes defying the odds. But even when he took possession of the belt, Blachowicz still felt he missed the opportunity. He is in this game to challenge himself and there is no greater challenge for a lightweight than trying to solve Jones.
It’s impossible to ignore the fact that MMA is fueled by the power of the stars and how defeating a superstar like Jones could have fueled Blachowicz’s career.
Now we will find out if the victory of Adesanya, who entered Saturday’s fight on the threshold of the superstar, has a similar effect. It was not Blachowicz’s most dynamic victory, without a moment of signature, but giving the first loss to a fellow champion is a significant achievement. Blachowicz faced another challenge and came out on top again.
It was clearly Blachowicz’s night, but in the beginning, the fight was a uniform fight in which both men kept their distance and took care. Adesanya used her footwork to move away from the champion’s power in the light heavyweight category, and Blachowicz showed respect for the champion’s slick attack, in all angles, at medium weight, reacting to every crease and movement. No one seriously injured the other, but they both felt the effects of several blows and significant blows. And when the championship rounds finally arrived, Blachowicz took the lead and refused to hand over control.
The predominant thought that came into the fight was that Blachowicz’s power would be the difference if he could get a big punch. But as things turned out, the force on the canvas won Blachowicz in this fight.
He spent the last three minutes of the 4th round over Adesanya, who never posed a serious threat to lose his position and get back on his feet. And in the middle of the final round, Blachowicz took the fight back on the carpet, once again securing his position above his challenger, again without an escape route.
The fight ended with Blachowicz in full swing, the most dominant position in the sport, landing fists and elbows while the horn sounded. He made the unanimous decision, two judges scoring the match 49-45, and the other seeing 49-46. It was the first loss of Adesanya’s MMA career. Blachowicz took the circumstances given to him and made the most of them.
It may not be Blachowicz’s performance that will cause Jones to return to the £ 205 division in a hurry. Jones is expected to debut in the heavyweight category this summer, provoking the winner of this month’s title fight between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou. If Jones won the heavyweight championship, the £ 205 division would never see him again.
But if Jones’ offer was low, especially in a heavy loss during his first fight against someone older than him, could he look back at the light weight and see Blachowicz through a new lens? Jones said, after all, that he was looking elsewhere because he did not see the advantage of facing such a low fighter. Blachowicz has certainly raised his profile, managing New Zealand-born Adesanya, who was born in Nigeria. It is a beginning.
If circumstances send Jones, Blachowicz would welcome the challenge, even if it would take longer to reach £ 205.
“I think I’ll get that fight in the future,” Blachowicz told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto ahead of this weekend’s fight. “If he’s not in the UFC, I’ll go to Albuquerque and fight him in the gym. We’ll do that.”
For Blachowicz, it was just about the next match. As he uttered these words, his emphasis was on Adesanya. But now that the middleweight champion is out of the way, Blachowicz’s full attention will shift to the next man in the lightweight row. This seems to be Glover Teixeira, who has won five fights in a row and at 41 years old does not have much time to wait.
Blachowicz is on board. “I would like to continue fighting Glover,” he said.
This is how Jan Blachowicz operates. He did business on Saturday night, and now he’s moving on to his next job. He’s the type to keep his head down and move forward, not distracted by fantasy matches or being part A on the awning. Being a champion is what he has always dreamed of and that is enough for him. For now.