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A UFC champ believes there’s only one reason longtime 205-pound champ Jon Jones left the division in 2020, and it’s because Jones is “afraid to fight” him. Newly crowned UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz issued that statement to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani on Wednesday.
“Why doesn’t Jon Jones want to fight at 205 anymore? Because he’s afraid of me,” Blachowicz said. “That’s why he moved to heavyweight. This is the reason.”
Jan Blachowicz dispels the notion that he’s an easier fight for Israel Adesanya than Jon Jones would be.
(via @arielhelwani)
While Blachowicz is miffed he doesn’t get his shot against Jones, it appears he’s still getting one heck of a fight for his next gig anyway.
Per Dana White, Blachowicz appears to be headed into a superfight against UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya next.
Blachowicz dispelled the notion that he would be an easy out for Adesanya.
“It’s gonna be a harder fight,” Blachowicz said.
Blachowicz also revealed to ESPN he wouldn’t be ready to fight again until March, so his assumed champ vs. champ battle against “The Last Stylebender” will have to wait until then.
Still, Blachowicz vs. Adesanya is a legit surprise megafight between two of the hottest fighters in the UFC right now.
Blachowicz might have called out Jones for leaving the division, but the 37-year-old doesn’t have much to complain about in regards to his next fight.
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Underdog Blachowicz Keeps Beating the Odds
While Blachowicz opened as a heavy underdog to Adesanya on the early betting market for the fight, the truth of the matter is that Blachowicz was a similar underdog to Dominick Reyes in his last fight, too.
But Blachowicz dominated and stopped Reyes in the second round of the co-main event of UFC 253 anyway.
Now, the Polish powerhouse has a massive fight against Adesanya on the way, as well as future big-money bouts against other top-ranked 205-pound contenders assuming he can successfully defend his title.
And who knows? So long as Blachowicz keeps winning fights, he might eventually end up getting his wish to face Jones someday, too.
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What’s Next for Jones?
Jones dominated the light heavyweight division for a long time before deciding earlier this year it was time for him to move up to the heavyweight ranks to take on new challenges.
But Jones, 33, doesn’t have a fight on the horizon just yet, so all Blachowicz needs to do right now to put himself in line to face one of the most dominant fighters in UFC history is keep winning fights.
Admittedly, Jones appeared to be on his way to facing Blachowicz earlier this year as the American’s next title defense. But that changed after Jones decided superfights in the heavyweight division against the likes of Francis Ngannou and UFC champ Stipe Miocic might be better for him at this point in his career.
Of course, Jones was also a heavy favorite to beat Blachowicz, so the likelihood that the heavily favored UFC champ was seriously afraid of losing his stranglehold on the division is unlikely no matter what Blachowicz thinks.
Still, Blachowicz has been on an incredible tear as of late. In fact, Blachowicz might be the most underrated fighter in the company. His last four fights were stunning wins over Reyes, Corey Anderson, Ronaldo Souza and Luke Rockhold.
Now, Blachowicz hopes to make it five in a row against an undefeated champion moving up in weight to try his hand at becoming the UFC’s next “champ champ”.
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