Israel Adesanya is heading up to light heavyweight in an attempt to become a simultaneous two-division champion.
The UFC’s reigning middleweight king will take on light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 on March 6th, per Dana White to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. No date or venue has been revealed for the pay-per-view.
Adesanya (20-0) has defended his belt twice, winning a decision over Yoel Romero in a fight everyone would like to forget, followed by an unforgettable thrashing of Paulo Costa at UFC 253. “The Last Stylebender” has been eyeing both a superfight with Jon Jones as well as the 205 lbs title, so he’ll get at least one of those two opportunities in 2021.
Blachowicz (27-8) has won four straight and eight out of his last nine. Prior to Adesanya’s stoppage of Costa, the Polish star scored a second-round TKO of Dominick Reyes to win the belt vacated by Jones. His other victories during his current winning streak came against Corey Anderson, Jacare Souza, and Luke Rockhold.
If all goes according to plan, then UFC 259 will be at least a championship doubleheader, with Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson fighting for Nunes’ women’s featherweight title. In other words, a potential champ-champ in the main event and an actual champ-champ in the co-main.
About the author
