Jan Blachowicz believes the split draw between himself and Magomed Ankalaev on Saturday night was a”fair” decision.
Blachowicz and Ankalaev met in the main event of UFC 282 at the T-Mobile Arena over the weekend. After 25 minutes of action, the bout was announced as a split draw, delivering an anticlimactic finish to an otherwise spectacular pay-per-view event. Following the contest, Blachowicz appeared to acknowledge that Ankalaev was the winner of the bout.
During his post-fight interview after the scorecards were read, Joe Rogan pressed Blachowicz to verbally acknowledge Ankalaev was the rightful winner despite the scorecards, but on Monday, the former light heavyweight champion changed his tune, claiming that the draw was a fair result.
“Let me reiterate something. First – I honestly don’t think the fight was terrible at all. Second – I don’t feel I’ve won but neither that I lost. A draw was fair,” tweeted Blachowicz.
“End result – One dude cried and talked about his supposed injuries, another dude showed that honor can be and still is upheld in this game. I’m glad the fans see it and appreciate it for what it is.”
End result – One dude cried and talked about his supposed injuries, another dude showed that honor can be and still is upheld in this game. I'm glad the fans see it and appreciate it for what it is.
— Jan Blachowicz (@JanBlachowicz) December 12, 2022
Magomed Ankalaev Clarifies His Comments Following Split Draw With Jan Blachowicz
Magomed Ankalaev was particularly upset after hearing the official announcement from Bruce Buffer. In a translated statement following the decision, Ankalaev questioned whether or not he wanted to compete in the UFC again. As it turns out, Ankalaev meant that he no longer wanted to compete in Las Vegas citing “horrible judging” as the reason. Ankalaev clarified his post-fight comments on Twitter, saying:
“I wanna clear something up, what I said after the fight was I don’t want to fight in this city anymore because of the horrible judging, I did not say anything about I don’t wanna fight in the UFC,” Ankalaev explained.
I wanna clear something up, what I said after the fight was I don’t want to fight in this city anymore because of the horrible judging, I did not say anything about I don’t wanna fight in the UFC.
I wanna thank @danawhite and @Mickmaynard2 for the opportunity
— Muhammad big ANK Ankalaev (@AnkalaevM) December 11, 2022
With the light heavyweight championship still vacant, Dana White and company will go in a different direction, giving former titleholder Glover Teixeira an opportunity to reclaim UFC gold at UFC 283. Standing in his way will be No. 7 ranked contender Jamahal Hill. The two will square off at UFC 283 on January 21st to crown a new 205-pound king.
