Blachowicz is inching closer to a UFC return now that both of his injured shoulders have been surgically repaired.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz is hoping to regain that legendary Polish power with the help of a second shoulder surgery procedure.
Blachowicz was forced to pull out of a fight with Aleksandar Rakic in December 2023 after the strength in his arms decreased to the point where he felt “like a two-year-old girl.” A few weeks later he was on the operating table, where surgeons were set to operate on both of his shoulders. Unfortunately it took them so long to fix the right shoulder that they had to leave the left one for another date.
Three months later, and that date has finally arrived.
“It is what it is… Going under the knife again,” Blachowicz wrote on Instagram. “It’s time for the surgery of the other shoulder … Keep your fingers crossed! With the first shoulder it helped.”
He shared a follow-up after the surgery, which sounds like it was a success. Not only did they fix his left shoulder, but they cleared out the cartilage in his sinuses as well.
“I feel really good. I feel so relieved that I have this process behind me,” he wrote. “With this energy I’m entering the next step! Still want to do something big. For myself. For you guys. #LegendaryPolishPower #WillReturn.”
Jan Blachowicz won the vacant UFC light heavyweight title in 2020 and defended it once when Israel Adesanya moved up a weight class chasing double champion status. He suffered an upset loss in his next defense against Glover Teixeira and has struggled to regain momentum since then. His last bout was a close split decision loss to Alex Pereira in July 2023 — a fight Jan still believes he won.
Hopefully with these surgeries and time off, the 41-year-old Blachowicz can make a splash in the division one more time.