Aleksandar Rakic believes he matches up well with current light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz.
Blachowicz is set to defend his 205-pound crown against Glover Teixeira at UFC 266 which takes place September 25. Rakic, meanwhile, is on a two-fight winning streak following a decision win over Thiago Santos and has won six of his last seven overall.
While most would expect Jiri Prochazka to get the next shot, Rakic is hopeful he’ll be the one to get it and believes his movement and speed will help him get the win should he end up facing Blachowicz next.
“I think stylistically he would match up even better than Thiago,” Rakic told James Lynch (via BJ Penn). “I’m the fastest guy in the division. My reaction and my movements, I’ve been in the sport for so many (years). I started kickboxing when I was 13. I had my first fight when I was 14. The first fight, I fought at 68kgs (150lbs).
“This movement and this speed are always in my backpack. I have it always in there.”
That said, the Austrian acknowledges it won’t be an easy fight whatsoever, especially with Blachowicz currently on a five-fight winning streak and in the peak of his powers.
“Of course, it’s going to be a hard fight, a hard battle, but I’m improving every day,” Rakic added. “I’m training and I have a hell of a team behind me. We work on every detail. The last camp, the quality of the camp behind me is amazing. After every sparring session, we record every sparring rounds, we sit in the evening together, and we watch the sparring.
“For example, the wrestling coach or the striking coach, if he sees something we could do better, right away the next day we work on this. The details. After every fight, you see a better version of Aleksandar Rakic. More fight IQ, better shape, calmer. It’s just a matter of time until the knockout or submission will come. I’m working very hard on this and I think it’s going to be a very good fight, me and Jan.”
How do you see Blachowicz vs. Rakic going?