UFC 259: Jan Blachowicz uses wrestling to hand Israel Adesanya first defeat, retain light heavyweight title
- Pole dominates middleweight on the ground in final two rounds for dominant defence
- ‘I knew if I take him down I’m bigger, stronger … I just had to wait for good moment, after he was little bit tired,’ Pole says
Israel Adesanya’s bid to become just the fifth UFC fighter to hold two titles simultaneously was halted by Jan Blachowicz, who utilised his wrestling to perfection to retain the light heavyweight title in the UFC 259 main event.
With middleweight champ Adesanya weighing in a few pounds under the limit, having opted not to bulk up for this bout, Blachowicz’s size advantage was always going to be a factor.
And the 38-year-old Pole smothered Adesanya on the ground for the final two rounds to secure the victory at the Apex facility in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Two judges had it 49-46 for Blachowicz (28-8), and one had it 49-45, with two 10-8 scores in the final round. Each judge only gave one round to Adesanya (20-1).
“I knew if I take him down, I’m bigger, stronger a little bit,” Blachowicz told Joe Rogan after the fight. “I knew I be better on ground. Everybody know his ground game not so good like mine. I just had to wait for good moment, after he was little bit tired.
“I do little bit more my left hand, put little bit more jabs on him, I should’ve put more pressure on him, do more boxing. If I will knock him out would be better.