Aleksandar Rakic released a statement following his TKO defeat to Jan Blachowicz.
Rakic took on the former champion in a light heavyweight title eliminator in the UFC Vegas 54 headliner last night.
It was a competitive bout for the first two rounds. However, after eating two leg kicks in succession, Rakic’s right knee buckled when he put pressure on it as he fell to the ground in pain soon after.
The referee called an end to the fight immediately with Blachowicz returning to the win column.
Aleksandar Rakic Hoping For Rematch
Rakic released a statement soon after where he revealed the same injury occurred three weeks ago in training camp.
He also added his thoughts on the fight where he felt he won the first two rounds and planned on picking Blachowicz apart in the third round before the injury occurred.
In the end, he hopes to get a rematch with Blachowicz when he’s healthy again as he feels there is unfinished business.
“A great battle took place in the Octagon tonight but unfortunately, it ended not the way Jan and I or the fans wanted,” Rakic wrote on Instagram. “The same damn injury from [three] weeks ago in camp showed up again tonight.”
“I felt I won both rounds, round one being close but round two was just mine then I opened up really good even in the third before my knee buckled,” he wrote. “Knowing the fact that my cardio was off the chart (with a heartbeat at 36 in sleep) I would start to picking him apart from third round on but it is what it is. Congratulation to Jan and I wish him the best. I will take care of this injury and come back like you never seen me before. This is a unfinished fight between Jan and I and I really hope [UFC] gives me a REMATCH.”
Injuries are part of MMA training camps and many fighters go into contests while not being 100 percent.
Unfortunately for Rakic, the risk did not pay off. Hopefully, he will have a swift recovery as there is no official word on what exactly he damaged.
