There is a very compelling title fight atop the UFC 259 card this Saturday. Three of them, in fact. But none more so than the champ vs. champ battle between unbeaten City Kickboxing star Israel Adesanya and Polish powerhouse Jan Blachowicz.
As Clint Eastwood’s William Munny once drawled in Unforgiven, “deserve’s got nothing to do with it.” Forget whether or not Adesanya, who will likely be a shade under the 205lb limit come Saturday, has earned his place in a light heavyweight title fight. Because the short answer is that he hasn’t. Instead, marvel at the clash of styles, and the fact that, with apologies to Glover Teixeira, this is the best fight the UFC could make in the light heavyweight division.
Adesanya (20-0) has been perfect at middleweight thus far, stopping every opponent prior to his arrival in the UFC, and a fair number after. Blachowicz (27-8) has stopped three of his last four opponents, and has long been fighting the best, right back to his days as the KSW light heavyweight champion.
Ahead of that showdown, there is, of course, Petr Yan’s first title defense, against a very deserving Aljamain Sterling. On the women’s side, Amanda Nunes, a GOAT among women, puts her featherweight title on the line once again, this time against former Invicta FC champ Megan Anderson.
The bottom line, UFC 259 has something for everyone. Unless you’re not a fight fan. In which case, what are you doing here?
Tune in Thursday afternoon for the UFC 259 pre-fight press conference. The festivities get underway at 5PM ET.
