There was no new co-star in the UFC’s exclusive champion club on Saturday night.
That’s what this UFC 259 main event is about, right? Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya’s quest to add the light heavyweight belt to become the fifth fighter to simultaneously rule two weight divisions and try to become one of the biggest stars in MMA.
Jan Blachowicz? In the prevailing story that led to this super fight, the 205-pound champion was just a sidekick, a role he became accustomed to – and a role in which he thrived.
In fact, it would come as no surprise if Blachowicz, mixed with his victory celebration, experienced a bit of déjà vu.
In UFC 259, Blachowicz felt the familiar feeling of being overshadowed. The last few weeks have been the most focused on Adesanya and the superstar opponent he was not facing Jon Jones. Oddsmakers even installed Blachowicz as a rare underdog champion. Suspicious status is also not new; Blachowicz has only been favored twice in his last ten fights.
But Blachowicz simply went on to do what he has been doing over and over for the past 3½ years: he rose above expectation and made it his evening.
Blachowicz is no stranger to being overlooked or to seeing the opportunity slip out of his grasp, but only to enter our field of vision with confidence and assert his presence at a very opportune moment. Recently in the fall of 2017, he was 2-4 in the UFC and about to lose his place in the rankings. He has since won nine of his ten matches.
And yet, as Blachowicz (38) gradually rose through the ranks of light heavyweight competitors, the then champion, Jones, looked in all directions but at the powerful slugger from Poland. Jones had the eye of Adesanya, the middleweight champion with a fast rising star and the potential to jump in weight. Jones later looks at the heavyweight division and his giant challenges, and this is where he finally decides to manage his career and vacate the lightweight title.
Blachowicz then clinched the vacant title in September with a challenging KO from Dominick Reyes in the second round. But even when he took possession of the belt, Blachowicz still had a chance to get lost. He’s in this game to challenge himself, and there’s no greater challenge for a light heavyweight than solving Jones.
It’s impossible to ignore that MMA is fueled by star power and how defeating a superstar like Jones could have caused Blachowicz’s career with a turbocharger.
Now we will determine if the defeat of Adesanya, which went into the superstructure point on Saturday, has a similar effect. It was not the most dynamic victory for Blachowicz, as there was not a characteristic highlight, but the first loss to a fellow champion is a major achievement. Blachowicz got another challenge from scratch and came out on top once again.
It was clearly Blachowicz’s night in the end, but early on the fight was an even back-and-forth dispute in which both men mostly kept their distance and were careful. Adesanya used his footwork to remove the power of the light heavyweight champion, and Blachowicz showed respect for the smooth, angular attack of the middleweight champion, responding to every flick and movement. Neither of the two seriously injured the other, but both felt the effects of several significant blows and kicks. And when the championship rounds finally dawned, Blachowicz took over and refused to surrender control.
The prevailing thought that came into the fight was that the power of Blachowicz would be the difference if he could succeed a great battle. But as things turn out, it was the strength on the canvas that brought Blachowicz this fight.
He spent the last three minutes of Round 4 on top of Adesanya, which was never a serious threat to escape the position and let the fight stand again. And halfway through the final round, Blachowicz takes the fight back to the mat, again securing his position on top of his challenger, without any escape route.
The match ended with Blachowicz on the full mountain, the most dominant position in the sport, landing punches and elbows as the horn sounded. He made the unanimous decision, with two judges scoring the game 49-45 and the other one 49-46. It was the first loss of Adesanya’s pro MMA career. Blachowicz accepted the circumstances given to him and made the best use of them.
It may not be the Blachowicz performance that will make Jones rush back to the 205-pound division. Jones is expected to make his heavyweight debut this summer and challenge the winner of this month’s battle between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou. Should Jones win the heavyweight championship, the 205-pound division will probably never see him again.
But if Jones’ bid were to fall short, especially in a bad loss during his first fight against someone bigger than him, could he perhaps look back on light heavyweight and see Blachowicz through a new lens? Jones nevertheless made it clear that he was looking elsewhere because he did not see the benefit of facing such a low-profile fighter. Blachowicz has certainly raised his profile by dealing with Adesanya, the Nigerian-born New Zealand resident. This is a start.
If circumstances sent Jones to his side, Blachowicz would welcome the challenge, even if it would take a large amount of Jones to get 205 pounds back.
“I believe in the future I will get the fight,” Blachowicz told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto during the run – up to this weekend’s fight. ‘If I’m not in the UFC, I’m going to Albuquerque and fight him in his gym. We will do it. ‘
For Blachowicz, it was just talking about future matches. As he speaks these words, he focuses 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 light heavyweight division. It turns out to be Glover Teixeira, who has won five fights in a row and at the age of 41 does not have much time to wait.
Blachowicz is on board. “I want to fight Glover next,” he said.
This is the way Jan Blachowicz works. He took care of business on Saturday night, and now it’s off to the next job. He is the type who keeps his head and moves forward, not distracted by fantasy matches or as the A-side on the tent. Being a champion is what he has always dreamed of, and that’s enough for him. For now.