Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz is hoping to get back on track with a win over Aleksandar Rakic later tonight (Sat., May 14, 2022) at UFC Vegas 54 live on ESPN2/ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, but the Polish fighter also has his sights set on reigning pound-for-pound (P4P) king Kamaru Usman.
It wasn’t too long ago when Blachowicz won the UFC light heavyweight crown and defended it against current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. Blachowicz may not have defeated 205-pound legend Jon Jones en route to taking over the division, but he was a scary champion to say the least. Unfortunately, Blachowicz ended up losing his title to Glover Teixeira in a complete shocker at UFC 267 last October and now he’s trying to claw his way back to another championship run.
Earlier this year, Usman made a bold prediction in saying that he could’ve jumped from welterweight to light heavyweight and defeated Blachowicz when he was champion. It was an interesting statement by “Nigerian Nightmare” and one that made its way to the ears of the former Polish champ. The matchup never came to fruition due to Teixeira’s upset win.
Blachowicz was asked about Usman’s callout earlier this week during an interview with The New York Post and made it known that he’d love a shot to take on the P4P king.
“He is the best fighter in the world right now, yes? That would be a pleasure for me to fight against someone like him. Why not? We can do it in the future. I will be ready. It will be an exciting fight.”
If Blachowicz is able to handily knock off Rakic later tonight at UFC Vegas 54 he could reposition himself close to a title shot. Teixeira is set to defend the belt against surging contender Jiri Prochazka at UFC 275 next month and Blachowicz could end up facing the winner with a big finish this weekend.
Should Blachowicz win back the title it would immediately re-open a potential clash with Usman. The reigning UFC welterweight champion would never jump up to middleweight and fight his good friend Adesanya so that only leaves 205 pounds for Usman to try to become a UFC double champ. Why he has only called out Blachowicz and nobody else is anyone’s guess.
What say you, Maniacs? Would you want to see a Usman vs. Blachowicz matchup for the 205-pound strap?
Sound off!
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