SALT LAKE CITY – Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz may be fighting for gold once again, but first, he must get through another ex-champ in Alex Pereira.
In the co-feature of UFC 291, Blachowicz (29-9-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) welcomes former middleweight champ Pereira (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) to light heavyweight, in a key fight with title implications. The event takes place Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC/ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+
According to Blachowicz, the promotion said the winner of this fight will be next up for a title fight, which recently became vacated due to an injury to Jamahal Hill. While the stakes of the fight don’t necessarily add any extra pressure for Bachowicz, he will be looking at his opponent as a means for revenge against Glover Teixeira, who knocked him off the light heavyweight throne at UFC 267.
“A little bit, I treat this like my personal rematch with Glover,” Blachowicz told reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 291 media day. “Completely different fighters, but they train together, they are friends, train in one gym, he’s his coach – and for me, that will be like personal rematch.”
There was an air of humor in Blachowicz’s response, as he sat at the dias wearing a newly-received jacket from UFC senior vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky for achieving 50 clean USADA tests.
Since losing that bout by submission to Teixeira, Blachowicz bounced back into the win column seven months later by recording a TKO win against Aleksandar Rakic. That win placed him in a fight for the vacant title against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 282. However, a split draw result left the title without an owner.
Now, with another vacant title fight potentially right around the corner, Blachowicz knows he has a serious threat and a dangerous knockout artist on his hands in Pereira. As one who has faced a number of former middleweights moving up a weight class, Blachowicz believes that “Poatan’s” fight-finishing power will translate across divisions.
“Great fighter, great sportsman, knockout punch power – I watched almost all of his fights in MMA,” Blachowicz said. “Now we’ve got him in 205. When I hear him say he wanted to go to 205, I told my manager to send a message to UFC, ‘I want him,’ and we have him.
“… I want to check my stand up against him and try to knock him out. But if something goes wrong in stand up, I can use my wrestling and take him down, finish him on the ground. This is what I want to do: Win the fight.”
With a win over Pereiera, Blachowicz fully expects to be up for the vacant title, and believes he will be up against a former title holder who also had to vacate due to injury.
“UFC tell me that after this fight, next fight will be for the title, so nothing changed,” Blachowicz said. “Jamahal Hill left the belt – I wish him (very well). But my next opponent will be maybe (Jiri) Prochazka, and we will fight for the title.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.
