Jan Blachowicz could get another UFC championship shot soon, and if it happens close to home, he’s sure the organization will be pleased with the box office receipts.
The former light heavyweight king has kept himself in pole position for a chance to regain his title after defeating Aleksandar Rakic at UFC Vegas 54. Following the fight, Blachowicz said that the win makes him the “obvious” No. 1 contender.
Nothing is guaranteed for Blachowicz, and the division has to wait for Glover Teixeira to defend his title against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 275 on June 11. Blachowicz is open to any fight, however the Polish superstar predicts that the Czech Republic’s Prochazka will sell out stadiums.
“I believe both. If Glover wins it’s gonna make a great story. With Jiri, we are very happy because if this fight takes place in Europe, then that will be a huge fight.” Blachowicz stated on The MMA Hour as he was asked if he would prefer to fight Prochazka or Teixeira. I’m against Jiri. We’ll be doing it somewhere in Poland, Czech Republic.
“I believe that Jiri will fight me in the national stadium if they make it in Poland. Joanna [Jedrzejczyk], Mateusz Gamrot. Sixty thousand people could be there.”
Blachowicz lost the title to Teixeira at UFC 267 last October, but his recent wins include Rakic, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, and Corey Anderson (currently No. 2 at 205 pounds in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings). Following a slow start to his UFC career, Blachowicz has won 10 of his past 12 fights with six of those coming by way of knockout or submission.
With the work done in the cage, he now plans to go to work behind the scenes to set up a fight with the winner of the UFC 275 headliner.
“Not yet, but we’ll start talking about this with them, so we’ll see,” Blachowicz said of whether there were any title fight talks with UFC officials yet. I hope they will give me the chance. To get the second shot at a title, I’ll do all I can to work with my manager. I believe it.”
On whether he’ll get the next title shot at light heavyweight, @JanBlachowicz tells @arielhelwani: “I hope so. 8https://t.co/JgmAyy3ppl— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting): “I believe that.” #TheMMAHour
> https://t.co/JgmAyy8ppl pic.twitter.com/wmcwVLxFJa
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) May 18, 2022
As he suggested in the lead-up to Saturday’s fight, Blachowicz is leaning towards wanting to see Teixeira retain so that he can get a chance to avenge that loss. The 42-year-old Teixeira said that he is considering retiring by the end of 2022, which gives Blachowicz a small window in which to fight him again.
Regardless, Blachowicz hopes to be in Singapore to watch Teixeira and Prochazka square off, which would send a clear message to both men that he is coming for the gold.
“I like both of them, but I keep thinking a little bit for Glover because I would like to take a rematch and take the belt from his hands,” Blachowicz said. But we’ll see. But yes, I will be supporting Glover.”
“If Glover takes down Jiri then he’ll win the fight,” he said. “But you know, Jiri is a crazy fighter with a crazy style, weird style, but it’s working in a good way. So we will see, 50/50, we will see. I’m curious. We’ll see if I can make it. We’re working on this to be there.”
