Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was already trying to book Jan Blachowicz for his next fight just a few hours after his submission loss to newly-crowned light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira in the UFC 267 main event last weekend in Abu Dhabi.
And it sounds like Anthony Smith is willing to throw down.
“I’m kind of liking this Jan Blachowicz fight,” Smith told The MMA Hour. “[The UFC] brought it to me that night. He wants to fight again. He wants to fight soon. I’m not crazy injured. I’m just dealing with a little stuff, infections, so I mean as long as we can get this infection cleared up, I don’t think February’s out of the question. I love that fight. I like that guy. I want the Rakic fight. I want that back. But I don’t think he wants to wait, which is fine, if he wants to go on and fight someone else, that’s fine as well. I like the Jan Blachowicz fight.”
Smith (36-16), who is currently ranked No. 4 in the division after finishing Ryan Spann last September in Las Vegas — his third straight win — was targeting a rematch against Aleksandar Rakic in December; however, a knee injury forced him to withdraw.
And “Rocket” still wants to compete before the end of the year.
“I’m trying to get to a title and Rakic was my path to the title,” Smith explained. “He’s the next guy after Jiri [Prochazka] but he’s going to have to fight again. I get to avenge that loss and he’s the highest ranked guy coming off of a win. That on top of trying to soothe my own ego was the fight to make. Jan Blachowicz does all of those things and I really like that guy and I think it’s a better matchup.”
Blachowicz has yet to comment on the proposed match up.