UFC: Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic Targeted for March 26 Main Event

Jan Blachowicz UFC 259
Jan Blachowicz Credit: Gabriel Gonzalez/Cageside Press

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz has his return to the octagon lined up.

On Wednesday, Ariel Helwani was first to report that Blachowicz (28-9) is being targeted to face Aleksandar Rakic (14-2) in the main event of the UFC’s March 26 card. Rakic and Blachowicz had both dropped hints about the match-up earlier this week.

Blachowicz lost his 205lb title back in October at UFC 267, when he was submitted in the second round of his fight with Glover Teixeira. The Polish fighter and former KSW light heavyweight champion saw his five-fight win streak snapped in that loss.

On his way to the top, Blachowicz had knocked off names like Luke Rockhold and Corey Anderson, before beating Dominick Reyes for the title vacated by Jon Jones last year. Blachowicz defended the belt once, against middleweight champion Israel Adesanya earlier this year.

Aleksandar Rakic has won two straight, with the only blemish in his UFC career being a controversial split decision loss to Volkan Oezdemir. Since that defeat, Rakic has rebounded with back-to-back unanimous decision wins against Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos.

The UFC’s March 26 event has not yet been officially announced by the promotion. No location, venue, or broadcast plan has been reported, and no other fights have been linked to the card as of yet.