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Former UFC light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz spoke to The New York Post in advance of his UFC 291 co-main event bout against ex-middleweight champ Alex Pereira.
Blachowicz confident there is a UFC title shot in his future
When The Post’s Scott Fontana joked that Blachowicz was cursing the UFC light heavyweight champs after both Jiri Prochazka and then Jamahal Hill abdicated their UFC titles following outside competition injuries, Jan was quick to come clean with a caveat:
“Yes, I use Polish magic. No. I’m using my magic, but only before my own fight. I don’t use [it] when somebody [else] fights. I’m gonna use [it] against Pereira, not to anybody else.
“After this fight, me or Alex — I believe that’s gonna be me — we’re gonna have [a] title shot,” Blachowicz says. “My next fight after Pereira will be, I think, Jiri Prochazka. So for me, nothing changed; it’s just this. For now, I focus only about Alex. I don’t think about what’s gonna happen later.
“He was a world champion in kickboxing, so I have to be careful,” says Blachowicz, “but I want to try my stand-up against him in the cage. … I am curious how I’m gonna feel [against] his stand-up, how I’m gonna feel against him. But if I’m gonna feel bad, if I take too many punches, OK, let’s go, let’s do wrestling.
“[Pereira] trains with Glover; Glover is [a] very good grappler, very good wrestler,” Blachowicz says. “He’s also going to be ready for that. I think it’s gonna be [a] tough fight for both of us.”
Rumor has it Blachowicz vs. Pereira already has title implications
Rumors that the bout had already been promoted to a title fight have been swirling following the leak of a UFC email to bars offering the pay-per-view.
The UFC was quick to issue a denial.
Dana White touts Jan Blachowicz & Alex Pereira as ‘two of the best knock-out artists’
When he announced the bout on Twitter, UFC and PowerSlap CEO Dana White called them “two of the best knockout artists in the world.”
UFC vet picking Blachowicz
Anthony Smith went on The MMA Hour and made his pick.
“I think he can do well, for sure. He’s going to have a tough time with some of the top guys, just with his skill set. But just in pure striking matches, I think he can do well.
“I think Jan Blachowicz is a pretty tough matchup, if I’m being honest. I think it’s a really tough matchup. Yeah, I do [think Pereira loses that].
“Again, we’re talking about leg kicks here — Jan Blachowicz might be the best kick defender in the entire UFC, and I’ve been saying that for a long time. But if you go back and even watch the Adesanya fight, it all starts with the leg kicks.
“Izzy’s game is very predicated on establishing his range and his striking with his leg kicks. Jan did a really good job of defending those and staying competitive in the striking, to get the takedowns later.”
How Alex Pereira is preparing for UFC 291
Ahead of UFC 291, Pereira chose former opponent Sean Strickland as one of his training partners in preparation for the bout. And he is satisfied with the short gym time they had.
“I was surprised with his high level on the ground. He surprised me,” Pereira said of Strickland. “People say his style is kind of weird. People say that about me, too. After training with him, I’m starting to get it.
“They are things that work. He taught us some things that I’ll practice for sure because I saw that they are very effective.”
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