- Jan Blachowicz wants to rely on his striking and see if he can take Alex Pereira out on the feet at UFC 291
- The Polish thinks “Poatan” will feel the power of a natural light heavyweight when they meet inside the Octagon
Jan Blachowicz is just days away from returning inside the Octagon as he takes on former middleweight champion Alex Pereira at UFC 291. Ahead of the match, Blachowicz insists that as much as possible, he would try and get the job done on the feet.
A strikefest
Speaking to Michael Bisping in a recent interview, Blachowicz said he knew that Pereira’s team is aware of his wrestling pedigree but he wants to test his striking with “Poatan.” The former light heavyweight champ divulged that he would only take the fight to the ground once he senses that Pereira is a problem on the feet or if the opportunity presents itself.
“For sure [I’m a great wrestler] but you know well how it is. I am stand-up fighter and I like fighting stand up so I have to check my stand up against someone like Pereira but if I don’t feel good, if I take some punches, for sure I’m gonna use wrestling and take him down because also I’m not stupid,” Blachowicz admitted. “I know how to, what I have to do to win this fight and I use all my tools to do it yeah but I will not go for takedown from the locker room no, I will stand in the middle of the cage and punch with him and if something goes wrong then I will start to wrestle but not earlier.”
“I live my life how I like you know… I have to check my stand up against him of course but if I’m gonna have opportunity to take him down, I will do it,” he added. “It’s not a secret I mean, they knew that they for sure they gonna be ready for that like I am ready for it, for his stand up, so I think that’s gonna be great matchup, great fight to watch.”
Alex will feel the Difference
Pereira has been evidently bigger than most middleweights. However, Blachowicz pointed out that natural light heavyweights like him are still more powerful and the Brazilian will feel it come fight night.
“I think he’s gonna move similar like in lower division but he’s just gonna feel different timing, different power you know, because I’m bigger than Adesanya and I’m bigger than the guys from lower division. That’s gonna be different for him,” Blachowicz explained. “He can train with bigger guys but you know fight is a fight, sparring is sparring, it’s two different things and he gonna feel it in the inside the Octagon.”
This isn’t the first time Blachowicz took on a middleweight in the UFC. It can be recalled that the Polish already beat Israel Adesanya in their title fight at UFC 259. In that fight, Blachowicz was able to take Izzy down 3 out of 5 attempts but it was his striking that secured him the decision victory.
On the other hand, Pereira will be coming in as a light heavyweight debutant, having moved up after failing to reclaim his middleweight title against Adesanya in their rematch at UFC 287.
