Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
Reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will move up to 205 pounds to challenge light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz.
UFC president Dana White announced the news during UFC Vegas 12’s post-fight press conference (see it HERE).
This is pretty major as Adesanya now has a chance to become a double champ while also holding an undefeated professional record (currently 20-0). The UFC middleweight king has gone 9-0 since his UFC debut less than three years ago and has stopped some of the best in the division. Adesanya’s most recent destruction came against the formerly undefeated Paulo Costa via TKO back in September.
For Blachowicz, this is a massive opportunity to send his new championship reign into overdrive. Adesanya is a massive name in the sport today and a win over him would only make a bigger star out of the Polish champ. Remember, Blachowicz just won the title against Dominick Reyes at UFC 253 this past September, and that only happened because Jon Jones vacated the title in order to move to heavyweight. In other words, Blachowicz is just digging his heels in.
There are no additional details regarding the matchup at this time but things should begin to heat up as Adesanya puts his move to light heavyweight in motion. It’s also going to be interesting to see what Jones has to say about the whole idea seeing as he and “Last Stylebender” have formed a boiling hatred for one another.
Well, who are you picking to win the battle of champions between Israel Adesanya and Jan Blachowicz?
Let’s hear it!