Jan Blachowicz has his eyes set on Alex Pereira as the second option if he’s unable to secure a bout with Israel Adesanya.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Blachowicz was last seen in action against top-ranked contender Magomed Ankalaev for the vacant belt at UFC 282 last December. Blachowicz turned in a strong performance utilizing a leg kick-heavy game plan to compromise Ankalaev’s wheels. Ankalaev managed to stay in the game and kept things competitive in a close-fought outing that resulted in an anticlimactic split draw.
Jan Blachowicz is confident he can make 185-lb to challenge Israel Adesanya
In a recent interview with Sportskeeda, Jan Blachowicz shared his thoughts on potentially challenging reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
“It’s a very good timing for me, and for him to do this fight because [no clear contenders].”
Blachowicz is confident he can make the 185-pound limit given he gets a three to four months’ notice.
“I feel that I can do it,” said Blachowicz. “I can cut my weight and fight against him in his division. But we will see what he’s going to say. If they want to do it or not. We will see. Also, I’m ready, prefer to stay in my weight but if they will give me this fight because it’s a title shot, fight against someone like Israel, a big motivation, that’s why I can cut my weight and fight at middleweight.”
“I’m a pro. I cut my weight when nobody know how to do it, without dieting, supplements, nothing. Now we’ve got everything. We’ve got a couple doctors, a dietician, supplements, a lot of people who control you. So where is the problem? I don’t see any.”
“When I do 205, I just need three weeks to make 205 pounds, no problem. Here, I’m going to need more time. If they say let’s do this fight, I need like three or four months. It’s not easy to do it and be in good shape in the fight. That’s why I need a little bit more time to do it in the longest way.”
“I need three or four months for preparation for cutting. I need this.”
He praised ‘Stylebender’ for his brutal knockout victory over his longtime rival Pereira last Saturday.
“It was a crazy reaction. First of all, I don’t believe what happened because I think before the fight, Pereira is someone who Adesanya is never going to beat. Sometimes, you got some opponents like that. He always going to lose to him. But he showed that you can do everything if you believe in something, train hard, believe in yourself, you can do everything in the world.”
Blachowicz wants Pereira if the Adesanya fight doesn’t happen
In the case a fight with Adesanya doesn’t come to fruition, Blachowicz would like to clash with former middleweight champion Alex Pereira, who announced his move up to light heavyweight earlier this week.
“[My preference for next fight] is Pereira because I fought against Ankalaev, Rakic. I want to do something new if they going to give me the chance to do something new. So, if they give me options to choose between these kinds of fighter, I will choose Pereira. If it’s a title shot against Jamahal Hill, of course that but I know I need to do one more fight before title shot.”
‘Legendary Polish Power’ believes a win over Pereira would earn him another shot at the gold.
“I believe [I can get title shot if I beat Pereira] because this is big name, he was the middleweight champion. He do a lot of crazy things in kickboxing. So, yeah, after this kind of fight for sure title shot for me.”
Other than Pereira, Jan Blachowicz is the only man to hold a win over Adesanya in mixed martial arts. Blachowicz is not currently booked for a fight and it remains to be seen who he will line up with next.
