Following a frustrating and controversial defeat to Alex Pereira at UFC 291, Jan Blachowicz is very much open to moving to the heavyweight division and a matchup with top contender Tom Aspinall.
Jan Blachowicz is one of the best light-heavyweight fighters of his generation. Winning the division title and then following it up with a decisive victory over UFC pound-for-pound rankings stalwart Israel Adesanya stamped his place in the history of the division.
Related: UFC tonight – Fight card, betting odds, and watch times for Saturday’s UFC event
However, all good things come to an end and he has had some tough luck since his victory over Adesanya in 2021. He would go on to lose his championship to Glover Teixeira in his next bout, fight to a draw in a vacant title booking last year, and recently suffered a difficult split decision loss in July. That last one may be the most frustrating of them all.
Jan Blachowicz wonders ‘what the judges were watching’ at UFC 291
After a dominant first round at UFC 291, where he threatened Pereira with submissions for minutes on end, he seemed to slow down considerably in the second and third rounds. It was uncharacteristic for the Polish star and has led some to wonder if the altitude in Salt Lake City that night may have had an effect on him.
While the 40-year-old doesn’t completely rule it out, he says he was in the event location three weeks in advance to acclimate to the altitude and felt good all the way up to just before the fight.
“Maybe that was the reason. I don’t know,” Blachowicz told Sportsnaut about the altitude. “Maybe in the first round, I tried to submit him so badly, maybe that was a mistake — too much energy to leave in the first round. I was there three weeks before the fight to get used to the altitude. … My training sessions over there, after one week, were very good.
“In the locker room when I did my warm-up, I felt perfect. I don’t know what happened in the third round. I felt something was not good [and] I don’t know why. … But it’s not an excuse, he was at the same altitude as me.”
Jan Blachowicz record: 29-10 (9 KO, 9 Submissions)
While Jan Blachowicz feels he was “robbed” at UFC 291, he takes nothing away from the efforts of former middleweight champion Alex Pereira. The Brazilian also dealt with the same 4,000 feet above sea level altitude and also showed he is more than an outstanding striker by defending submissions and takedowns from a talented grappler.
That is why Blachowicz places much of his annoyance from the loss on the judges that night. Although he was visibly tired later in the bout, he still feels he did everything necessary to eke out the win, including scoring takedowns in the second and third rounds. And the fact that he has been contacted by fans from around the world claiming a win was stolen from him only adds to the irritation of a second loss in his last four fights.
“I don’t know what the judges were watching. You’re tired or you just won the fight. I was tired but I did my job,” Blachowicz says. “I kept punching, I put pressure on him, I defended punches, [and] I took him down a couple of times. I believed after the fight, and all of my team believed we won the fight. Everybody thought that.
“A lot of people tell me now, not even [just] in Poland, in the whole world [that] the fight was close but they robbed you. … What can I do? Nothing. I can just say they robbed me and that’s it. It doesn’t change anything.”
Despite feeling a win was taken from him, the Polish star has no intention of trying to get the result reviewed and overturned in Utah since such things rarely happen in the sport. Now, the question is, what is next for him inside the Octagon?
He is well aware that he’s at least a win or two away from title contention. But while he is open to the idea of working his way back up the 205-pound ladder, he admitted to Sportsnaut a change of division is not out of the question.
Is heavyweight and a fight with top contender Tom Aspinall next?
In the past, Jan Blachowicz has claimed he’s pondered a move up to the heavyweight division. With Jon Jones — a fighter Blachowicz has always wanted to face — now at the top of the UFC heavyweight rankings and the division champion, he was asked if now would be the time for a weight-class switch. Especially with his prospects of being the light heavyweight champ again diminished.
“Of course. Why not? It sounds good,” he said with a laugh. “You opened something in my mind, so yea, we’re going to ask UFC about the opportunity of heavyweight. It’s something I have to think about.”
Obviously, Blachowicz would not be immediately put into a title bout, however, a matchup with a top contender like Tom Aspinall or Sergei Pavlovich would not be out of the question. The one-time champ is open to a booking with either but admits the Englishman would be a good matchup for him in a potential division debut.
“I need to watch them carefully, because when I watch the heavyweights I just watch for the fight,” he says. “I don’t watch to analyze them. But Aspinall did a great job in his last fight. That would be something very good for me for the first fight stop in heavyweight.”
Jan Blachowicz plans to take the next month or so off for vacation and to undergo a small surgical procedure on his elbow before he reaches out to the UFC about a potential bout in the sport’s biggest weight class.