‘Polish Power’ was on full display at UFC 239 where a light heavyweight contender sent a message.
Having produced a close fight with Alex Pereira at UFC 291, Jan Blachowicz has been just out of reach of the UFC’s light heavyweight title in recent times.
The former champion is now set to return on March 22 where he looks to thwart any plans of a rematch between Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev following their meeting at UFC 313.
With a statement performance in mind, Blachowicz previously achieved this feat in 2019 as part of a four-fight win streak that saw him claim the 205-pound gold.
Former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold had not been in the best form at the time having lost his title to Michael Bisping but there was still a belief that he had much more in the tank.
Jan Blachowicz knocked out Luke Rockhold with his devastating ‘Polish Power’
After suffering back-to-back knockout losses to Bisping and Yoel Romero, Luke Rockhold made the call to move up a weight class and compete in the light heavyweight division.
For his 205-pound debut, Rockhold drew the #6-ranked Jan Blachowicz who was coming off of a title eliminator loss to Thiago Santos earlier on in 2019.
The stage was set for Blachowicz to try and earn the biggest win of his career on the same night that Jon Jones would defend the light heavyweight title against Santos at UFC 239 in Las Vegas.
Rockhold may have opened as the favorite but he had limited success in the first round, resorting largely to his kicking game and clinch work that didn’t have much impact on his opponent.
He was seemingly wobbled at the end of the first round as Blachowicz threw a kick right as the bell sounded.
The Polish fighter had already shown himself to be dangerous when striking inside the clinch or on a break and at 1:39 seconds of the second round, he capitalized on this.
Particularly in his loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 299, it had been noted that Rockhold is known to leave his chin in the air which set him up perfectly for a clean left hook from Blachowicz.
Several follow-up shots ended the fight in devastating fashion with Rockhold looking lost when referee Herb Dean stepped in to wave the fight off.
The former champion would return to middleweight for a clash with Paulo Costa in 2022 before signing to the GFL earlier this year.
As for Blachowicz, he recorded two more wins before stopping Dominick Reyes to win the vacant title at UFC 253, successfully defending the belt against Israel Adesanya before losing it to Glover Teixeira in 2021.
Jan Blachowicz can create an interesting problem at UFC London on March 22
Jan Blachowicz may have been previously pushing for a rematch with Alex Pereira but he also has unfinished business with the current champion, Magomed Ankalaev.
The two men fought to a draw in the main event of UFC 282 and whilst a rematch between Ankalaev and Pereira does look to be on the cards, Blachowicz is still a prominent factor.
He hasn’t fought since his loss to ‘Poatan’ at UFC 291 but halting the seven fight win streak of Carlos Ulberg at the O2 Arena in London this Saturday will put him back into the conversation.
If ‘Polish Power’ makes an appearance on March 22, the title picture at 205-pounds could become very interesting.