The UFC has added another big matchup to its first pay-per-view event of 2024.
Former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz will take on Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 297. The event takes place Jan. 20 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The bout was officially announced during the UFC 295 broadcast Saturday night.
Blachowicz (29-10-1 MMA, 12-7-1 UFC) will look to reenter the win column after a pair of frustrating results. In his last outing at UFC 291, Blachowicz lost a close split decision welcoming former middleweight champion Alex Periera to the light heavyweight division. That result followed a split draw against Magomed Ankalaev in the main event of UFC 282 for the vacant light heavyweight title.
Blachowicz’s last win came against Rakic (14-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in their first meeting at UFC on ESPN 36. It was a TKO victory due to injury when Rakic’s knee gave out.
Rakic has not competed since the injury, which led to surgery on his ACL. Prior to the setback, he picked up a pair of unanimous decision wins over former title challengers Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos.
With the addition, the current UFC 297 lineup includes:
- Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis – for middleweight title
- Raquel Pennington vs. Mayra Bueno Silva – for vacant women’s bantamweight title
- Neil Magny vs. Mike Malott
- Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic
- Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev
- Dominick Reyes vs. Carlos Ulberg
- Garrett Armfield vs. Brad Katona
- Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Chris Curtis
- Charles Jourdain vs. Sean Woodson
- Gillian Robertson vs. Polyana Viana
- Serhiy Sidey vs. Ramon Taveras
- Jimmy Flick vs. Malcolm Gordon
- Yohan Lainesse vs. Sam Patterson
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 297.
