LAS VEGAS – Since when is UFC president Dana White one to matchmake immediately after an event? When the night ends without a champion being crowned.
With the UFC 282 headliner ending in a split draw, the promotion is moving in a different direction with the vacant light heavyweight title Jan Blachowicz (29-9-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) vs. Magomed Ankalaev (18-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) was declared a split draw Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, leaving the 205-pound title up for grabs.
White didn’t appear too impressed with how the fight between Blachowicz vs. Ankalaev panned out and immediately decided post-fight – after consulting with matchmakers and Hunter Campbell – that Glover Teixeira will face Jamahal Hill for the vacant title Jan. 21 at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro.
“What are you gonna do? I think the main event was terrible,” White said at the UFC 282 post-fight news conference. “What are you gonna do?”
He continued, “I started to zone out after like f*cking three rounds. I heard that Ankalaev is upset and whatever. What do you want me to do? You got beat up the first two rounds, and you took him to the ground, you started – what are you gonna do?”
Teixeira, who originally was to headline UFC 282 vs. then-champ Jiri Prochazka before he pulled out because of injury, was in attendance at T-Mobile Arena.
Hill, who was scheduled to face Anthony Smith at UFC Fight Night 221 on March 11, took to social media to react to the news.
Jamahal Hill reacts to getting the title fight against Glover pic.twitter.com/m94IyDiVsm
— 176.37 lb Bendaman🇦🇺 (@Bendaman2001) December 11, 2022
Blachowicz, who said afterward that he believed Ankalaev deserved the win from the judges, didn’t have a problem with White’s decision to book Teixeira vs. Hill.
“I’m OK with that,” Blachowicz told TSN. “I was not gonna be ready for that. Let something happen. The division has to move on. Show must go on.”
UFC 282 took place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 282.
