- Jan Blachowicz feels he’s fighting for the title next after beating Aleksandar Rakic
- Reigning light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira revealed his thoughts on the subject
UFC’s No. 1 light heavyweight, Jan Blachowicz came in at UFC Vegas 54 ready to dismantle Aleksandar Rakic. The fight went down as advertised and the two colossal 205-pounders traded blows for two straight rounds. However, things took a massive turnaround in the third when Rakic’s knee popped and snapped back, forcing the referee to stop the fight.
Check out Rakic’s grueling knee injury in slow-mo below:
Blachowicz, who was declared winner via TKO, is now moving on from the disappointing match and will focus on getting his title back.
A win is a win
Regardless of how it played out, Blachowicz is still happy with his win. However, he also admitted that it would’ve been sweeter had he had been able to finish Rakic.
“Of course, I’m a fighter, I’m a warrior,” Blachowicz said in his post-fight press conference. “It’s better when you win by TKO, KO, submission, clean. But my body was tougher tonight, that’s it. End of story. I was ready for third, fourth, five rounds — he was not.”
Jan sees nothing but a title shot
Blachowicz further pointed out why he deserves another crack at UFC gold, stressing that him being still the No. 1 contender makes it the “obvious” next title contender.
“This is what I was looking for, this answer — this fight give me the answer that I want,” he explained. “That I feel the same before I fought Glover or before I fought Israel [Adesanya] or Dominick Reyes. I’m just happy. Because I got inside the octagon to do a great fight but also to have fun and joy and I have it.”
“I hope so that the UFC gives me another title shot,” he added. “That I’m the next one. I was No. 1, Rakic was No. 3 — for me, it’s obvious that I’m the No. 1 contender now for the title shot.”
The feeling is mutual
Fortunately for Blachowicz, Teixeira also happened to be thrilled for a second showdown with him as well.
“Let’s go @JanBlachowicz Win tonight…and I’ll win Jun 11…then we run it back,” Teixeira wrote on Twitter.
Let’s go @JanBlachowicz Win tonight…and I’ll win Jun 11…then we run it back
— glover teixeira (@gloverteixeira) May 15, 2022
Blachowicz, on the other hand, admitted in his octagon interview that he hasn’t seen Teixeira’s call to run it back but he already welcomed it with open arms.
“I was focused on my fight so I don’t check the social media, but I’ll check it now.” Blachowicz said. “Glover I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you [to win at UFC 275] and I hope so, we going to fight again.”
"I hope so we going to fight again!"@JanBlachowicz hopes to run it back with @gloverteixeira! 🏆#UFCVegas54 pic.twitter.com/IZ8klCIC05
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) May 15, 2022
While other champions yearn for fresh meat, it’s quite baffling that Teixeira still finds a scrap with an old foe like Blachowicz exciting, not to mention he already submitted the Polish MMA star in the first meeting.
