Jan Blachowicz out of UFC Columbus headliner against…

Jan Blachowicz out of UFC Columbus headliner against Aleksandar Rakic

The UFC’s return to Ohio in March has lost its planned main event.

Former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz (28-9 MMA, 11-6 UFC) was supposed to headline the March 26 card against Aleksandar Rakic (14-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC). But Blachowicz announced early Friday an injury has forced him out.

The fight, which was set for the main event at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, would have been Blachowicz’s first since he lost the 205-pound title to Glover Teixeira. Blachowicz said an injury near his spine requires attention.

“Unfortunately I will not fight March 26th at #UFCColumbus,” Blachowicz posted on Twitter. I have an injury in my spine around the neck area. That makes it impossible to train with heavy weights. I need to fix that now. I hope we will meet with @rakic_ufc in the octagon in the first half of this year. 👊”

Unfortunately I will not fight March 26th at #UFCColumbus. I have an injury in my spine around the neck area. That makes it impossible to train with heavy weights. I need to fix that now.

I hope we will meet with @rakic_ufc in the octagon in the first half of this year. 👊

— Jan Blachowicz (@JanBlachowicz) January 28, 2022

A report from MMA Kultura said Rakic will be pulled from the card, as well, in order to reschedule against Blachowicz at a later date, though the UFC has not made a formal announcement.

Blachowicz lost the light heavyweight title to Teixeira at UFC 267 this past October. Prior to that, the 38-year-old had won five straight, including a title defense over formerly unbeaten UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, who moved up to 205 pounds to try for a second belt.

Rakic is coming off back-to-back wins over former title challengers Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos. The Austria native has just one loss in the UFC – a split decision setback against Volkan Oezdemir in December 2019.

With the change, the UFC Columbus lineup now includes: