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Jan Blachowicz Open To Israel Adesanya Rematch On Certain Conditions

Jan Blachowicz is willing to fight Israel Adesanya again. Blachowicz will look to defend his light heavyweight title a second time when he faces Glover Teixeira in the UFC 267 headliner taking place next weekend in Abu Dhabi. Of course, his first title defense came at UFC 259 back in March when he outpointed Israel […]

Jan Blachowicz is willing to fight Israel Adesanya again.

Blachowicz will look to defend his light heavyweight title a second time when he faces Glover Teixeira in the UFC 267 headliner taking place next weekend in Abu Dhabi.

Of course, his first title defense came at UFC 259 back in March when he outpointed Israel Adesanya and not only ended his dream of becoming a simultaneous two-weight champion, but also inflicted his first defeat.

Adesanya has since stated that he hasn’t given up on his goal of becoming a champion at light heavyweight. That said, he likely won’t get a chance again if Blachowicz remains the champion given how their first fight went.

However, Blachowicz is open to the possibility still provided Adesanya earns his shot rather than getting an immediate title shot again.

“Yeah, why not? It’s possible,” Blachowicz said in a recent interview (via MMA News). “But first of all, if you go through my category, now he have to do some fights, you know? Not, ‘OK, I go try again.’ Not for the title.

“First of all, he need to beat maybe two, three guys in 205, and then maybe then they give him chance for the title. But not immediately.”

It certainly sounds fair enough but one can imagine a couple more wins for Adesanya at middleweight, and he will likely get another shot at light heavyweight — especially if Blachowicz doesn’t remain champion for long.

Not that Blachowicz is planning on having that happen.

Would you like to see the rematch?

Marvin Vettori Believes Paulo Costa Was Ready To Fight: ‘It Was A Trap’

Marvin Vettori feels Paulo Costa was playing a bit of mind games. Vettori came out on top with a unanimous decision win over Paulo Costa in their back-and-forth light heavyweight war last night at UFC Vegas 41. There was plenty of drama going into the fight as well because of Costa’s weight issues. Unable to […]

Marvin Vettori feels Paulo Costa was playing a bit of mind games.

Vettori came out on top with a unanimous decision win over Paulo Costa in their back-and-forth light heavyweight war last night at UFC Vegas 41.

There was plenty of drama going into the fight as well because of Costa’s weight issues.

Unable to make 186, the fight was moved to a 195-pound catchweight before finally becoming a 205-pound bout. Many observers felt Costa’s head wasn’t really in the fight and that he would struggle to compete with the extra weight.

Although he did looked gassed early on, he was able to rally and hurt Vettori with a head kick in the second round. He surprised even more fans by having a strong fifth round as well.

However, it wasn’t enough to get the win. But he did impress many with his performance, including Vettori who feels Costa was luring him into a trap.

“It was a very solid performance,” Vettori said of his own performance at the post-fight news conference (via Middle Easy). “I’m glad I didn’t let go of all that tension before the fight thinking that he’s not ready, he didn’t train, he came in fat, he’s not taking it seriously because he actually did. It was a trap a little bit, I think.

“He was willing to scratch the fight, that’s for sure, but he was ready also.”

In the end, Vettori remained focused and got the victory despite what everyone was telling him pre-fight about Costa’s mindset.

“In my head, this guy wants out of the fight because he’s not ready,” he added. “My rational mind was saying, ‘You can’t think that way because it could all be a f*cking trap.’ I can definitely see that he was willing to scratch the fight, because I don’t think a lot of people would have taken this at a higher weight, but at the same time if I do accept, I’m all in. I can’t expect him to not be ready. So it was weird on my side, too, because I had to stay completely focused, even on him making all this sh*t where it kind of looked like he wasn’t ready.

“I had people all the time telling me, ‘He’s not ready, he wants out of the fight, he doesn’t want to be here.’ You saw the performance, he came game. He wasn’t out of shape or nothing.”

Do you think Costa was playing mind games?

Paulo Costa Releases Statement Following Marvin Vettori, Won’t Leave It To Judges Next Time

Paulo Costa released his first statement on social media following UFC Vegas 41 last night. Costa was outpointed by Marvin Vettori over five rounds in their light heavyweight headliner as both fighters took part in a back-and-forth war. He has since posted a statement on Instagram on Sunday. Here’s what he had to say (translated […]

Paulo Costa released his first statement on social media following UFC Vegas 41 last night.

Costa was outpointed by Marvin Vettori over five rounds in their light heavyweight headliner as both fighters took part in a back-and-forth war.

He has since posted a statement on Instagram on Sunday. Here’s what he had to say (translated via Google):

“Thank you Lord, thank you all for your support. I think I caused more damage to my opponent and for that reason I should have won, but in order to leave no doubt, I had to get the knockout. Despite this, I didn’t do enough to feel like a winner, I’m very critical of myself because I know my potential. I’ll make sure I don’t leave it to the judges next time. I will correct what you need and continue to be aggressive and forceful. God be praised always, amen.”

Although there was plenty of drama going into the fight with Costa’s weight issues, he performed extremely well given the circumstances and hurt Vettori with a head kick in the second round.

However, he was also deducted a point in the second round for an eye poke on Vettori. Even without the point deduction, Costa would have lost as all three judges scored it 48-46. However, Costa felt he should have won regardless.

“Man, I really don’t understand why the judges saw that result. I really believe I won,” Paulo Costa said during the post-fight press conference (via Middle Easy). “And about the referee, very good referee. I don’t understand why he took one point from me in the very first stoppage [accidental eye poke].

“…I’m disappointed because I think I won but Marvin did a very good job.”

How did you score it?

Dana White Is Working To Make The Final Fight On Nate Diaz’s Contract

Dana White has confirmed that he is currently trying to book a fight for Nate Diaz who has just one fight left on his current contract with the UFC. The fan favourite hasn’t fought since dropping to a decision defeat against Leon Edwards at UFC 263 in June. Diaz was outgunned for large portions of […]

Dana White has confirmed that he is currently trying to book a fight for Nate Diaz who has just one fight left on his current contract with the UFC.

The fan favourite hasn’t fought since dropping to a decision defeat against Leon Edwards at UFC 263 in June. Diaz was outgunned for large portions of the history-making five-round fight but almost sprung an upset in the dying embers of the bout. Diaz had ‘Rocky’ on wobbly legs in the final frame but was unable to capitalize fully before the round and fight came to an end.

Since then, Diaz has been angling for a fight with welterweight contender Vicente Luque. The American-born Brazilian has picked up four straight wins including back-to-back victories over Tyron Woodley and Michael Chiesa in his last two bouts.

Both men clearly want to fight and have been publicly calling each other out for some time now but the bout is yet to be finalized. MMA manager, Ali Abdelaziz revealed that Diaz has just one fight left on his current UFC deal and the promotion is hoping he signs a new contract before agreeing to book a fight with Luque.

Nate Diaz vs. Tony Ferguson?

As of late, Diaz has turned his focus away from Luque and towards Tony Ferguson who he appeared to call out earlier this week.

At the UFC Vegas 41 post-fight press conference, Dana White said that he is currently trying to book a fight for Diaz and also confirmed that it would be the final fight on Diaz’s current contract.

“Yeah, he’s got one more fight,” White said. “We’re working on a fight for him. Tony wasn’t one of those guys we were working on but we’re working on a fight for Nate now. He’s got one fight left.”

Who do you want to see Dana White book Nate Diaz against?

UFC Vegas 41 Bonuses: Marvin Vettori Takes Home An Extra $50K

Marvin Vettori picked up the biggest win of his career when he beat Paulo Costa over five rounds at UFC Vegas 41. The build-up to the fight between two of the best at middleweight was overshadowed by Costa’s inability to make the 186lb limit. After lots of back and forth and broken agreements, the two […]

Marvin Vettori picked up the biggest win of his career when he beat Paulo Costa over five rounds at UFC Vegas 41.

The build-up to the fight between two of the best at middleweight was overshadowed by Costa’s inability to make the 186lb limit. After lots of back and forth and broken agreements, the two men eventually agreed to square off at light-heavyweight.

Despite everything, Vettori and Costa put on a great scrap, and ‘The Italian Dream’ walked away with a deserved unanimous decision win and an extra $50,000 in ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus money.

Alex Caceres took home $50,000 for his ‘Performance of the Night’ against Seungwoo Choi. The long-time UFC veteran rallied against his highly fancied opponent to score a second-round rear-naked choke win despite eating an illegal knee that saw the referee deduct a point from Choi. That didn’t matter in the end for Caceres who is now riding a five-fight win streak.

The ‘Fight of the Night’ was the featured preliminary bout between Gregory Rodrigues and Jun Yong Park. Park appeared to be on the verge of a KO win when Rodrigues uncorked a shot that changed the fight completely. An uppercut and left straight followed and Park was out on his feet, referee Keith Peterson stepped in to wave off the fight.

Do you think the right people got bonus money at UFC Vegas 41?

Paulo Costa Blames Weight Issue On Injured Bicep

Paulo Costa has explained why he was unable to make the middleweight limit ahead of his fight with Marvin Vettori at UFC Vegas 41. The Brazilian knockout artist announced on Wednesday that he weighed 211lbs and would not be able to make his contracted weight of 186lbs. After some back-and-forth, the two men agreed to […]

Paulo Costa has explained why he was unable to make the middleweight limit ahead of his fight with Marvin Vettori at UFC Vegas 41.

The Brazilian knockout artist announced on Wednesday that he weighed 211lbs and would not be able to make his contracted weight of 186lbs.

After some back-and-forth, the two men agreed to fight at 195lbs. ‘Borrachinha’ quickly backtracked on that deal and the UFC Vegas 41 main event eventually ended up being a light-heavyweight fight.

On the night, Costa suffered a unanimous decision loss to ‘The Italian Dream’ who beat him to the punch for large parts of the five-round fight.

At the post-fight press conference, Costa explained that his massive weight issue was brought on by his inability to train for a few weeks due to an injured left bicep.

“I came in a little bit higher [in] weight because I needed to stop some weeks of training,” Costa said.

Costa was keen not to make any excuses for his defeat and was quick to give Vettori props following a great fight.

“The only problem is I lost this fight, so it will look like an excuse,” Costa said with a laugh. “I don’t have an excuse for anything. I did a good job there — Marvin as well. Congratulations to him, and to me, I think. But I had some problems to not come in here with my usual weight.”

Costa doesn’t feel bad about the impact his weight issue had on Vettori.

“No, no, no way,” he said. “No, of course not, [I didn’t feel bad about that]. I came here and the UFC suggested to fight at a catchweight or 205, and I just said yes, let’s go. I don’t care for weight. This is a fair fight. Both guys made weight on the same day at the same limit, so what could be more fair than that?” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)

Despite his injury excuse Costa will not be allowed to return to middleweight according to UFC president Dana White who confirmed post-fight that he will compete at 205lbs moving forward.

Do you think Paulo Costa can still make middleweight?