Jan Blachowicz prevents Israel Adesanya from becoming two-division UFC champ
If Jan Blachowicz is looking for a new nickname, “The Spoiler” might be a good choice. Blachowicz extended his winning streak to five straight with a win over Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 259. During that run, Blachowicz was the underdog in four of those five bouts. His win over Adesanya had to be extra rewarding as not only did Blachowicz win the fight, but he kept his light heavyweight crown and handed Adesanya his first loss in MMA.
The unanimous decision win moved Blachowicz to 28-8 and dropped Adesanya to 20-1.
Adesanya handled the setback well.
“Losses are part of life, and losses are something I deal with occasionally,” Adesanya said at the UFC 259 post-fight press conference. “Just this is my first one in MMA, but as they say, it is what it is.
“If I was going to lose to anyone, what better guy to lose to than a guy like Jan. A classy champion. A cool dude. A very nice guy. A guy who has a great story himself. On his way to getting cut from the company, comes back and then dominates, becomes light heavyweight champion and then hands this guy, a future legend, his first loss. If I’m going to lose to anyone, I’m glad I lost to him.”
As for the champ, he wants everybody to show him some respect.
“I defended my belt,” Blachowicz said after the event. “Now I prove that I’m a true champion and I think now I’m going to have respect from everybody. In the next fight, I will not be the underdog anymore. But I don’t care anyway.”
UFC 259 took place at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The pay-per-view event streamed on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+ and early prelims on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass.
Below are the final fight stats for the matchup between Blachowicz and Adesanya.