Former champion Jan Blachowicz is responding to comments about his UFC 282 performance.
UFC 282 was expected to crown a new light heavyweight champion, either Jan Blachowicz or Magomed Ankalaev. Instead, the fight resulted in a split draw as the 205-pound title remains vacant.
Right after the bout, analyst Joe Rogan candidly spoke with both men about his opinion on the fight’s outcome, stating “we thought (Ankalaev) won the fight.” While Blachowicz was in agreement at the time, he’s now left displeased with Rogan’s comments.
“Joe Rogan, when he stepped into the octagon, he said for him I lost the fight,” Blachowicz told MMA Fighting. “That was what I was thinking. He did a mistake that he say something like this to me after the fight. Because everybody who thinks that I lost the fight, watch only the last round.
“For me, a draw is a fair decision and seriously, I think that I was closer to winning the fight than Ankalaev. One more kick and it would be over, a TKO or if I would have defended his takedowns in the [fifth] round, stay a little bit longer on the feet, the fight would be mine.
“I could be disappointed about the [judges] but I’m not because I see the fight … I watched the fight a couple of times, a draw for me is fair.”
Blachowicz continued…
“Joe Rogan, he shouldn’t say something like this to me after the fight. I was stuck in the last round and then Joe Rogan says ‘that was a good fight but for me you lost the fight.’
“After the fight, when I go to the locker room and I start talking with a lot of people backstage from different teams, they said ‘don’t say that you lost the fight, you didn’t lose this fight, a round is OK but maybe you won the fight. So don’t say it.’
As for Ankalaev, he recently revealed going through the “worst training camp” of his life ahead of UFC 282. But for Blachowicz, these are mere excuses.
“I hate when someone say it like this. It pisses me off when someone uses excuses. I never say that my camp was bad, I have injuries or something like this. If you feel bad, stay home, drink tea with honey and relax.
“If you go to the fight, don’t excuse yourself. It just shows your weakness and that’s it.
“Everybody said that I was going to lose the fight, the bookmakers and everybody think that he will knock me out and finish me in the first round but I almost won the fight. Now he’s looking at excuses, why he was not so good in the fight. Why? Because I was very good in this fight. Because I don’t let him do what he always does in the fight. That was the reason.
“Now he says ‘I was injured, my camp was bad.’ Bullshit. I don’t believe in that. This is weakness. That’s it.”
The result of UFC 282’s headliner left Dana White so disappointed, that it led to the booking of a new vacant title fight, this time between Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill. It will serve as the main event of UFC 283, which takes place on January 21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.