Jan Blachowicz earned his first ever defense of his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title last Sat. night (March 6) by defatting Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision at UFC 259. His second defense, however, won’t be happening anytime soon.
That’s because Blachowicz wants to take at least six-month break before he returns to action in order to spend some time with his newborn son and his family. That means if Glover Teixeira wants his title shot, he is going to be waiting a little bit longer.
“(I want a) short break – minimum half-year break,” Blachowicz said during the post-fight presser (via MMA Junkie), before agreeing that Teixiera is the next man in line. “I want to spend some time with my family. I am a father. My child was just born and I don’t spend any time with him because I have to prepare for my fight. If he wants to wait, (Teixeira) will be my next opponent.”
While a six-month sit seems long a long time, it isn’t out of the norm for the Polish brawler. Prior to facing Adesanya, he hadn’t competed since knocking out Dominick Reyes in Sept. 2020 to win the vacant title. Before that, Blachowicz defeated Corey Anderson seven months prior to the title fight.
For Teixiera, though, the wait might seem a bit too much seeing as how he hasn’t competed since defeating Thiago Santos at UFC Vegas 19 in Nov. 2020. That means if he opts to wait, it will be close to a year on the sidelines for him.
If he decides to stay busy, there’s a certain “Rocket” ready for take off.