UFC Vegas 54’s Jan Blachowicz: Better to Win Clean, “But My Body Was Tougher”

By
Alex Behunin and Jay Anderson
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Las Vegas, NV — Former light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz didn’t leave UFC Vegas 54 entirely unscathed.

Blachowicz will have his eye examined on Monday, after taking damage during his headlining fight with Aleksandar Rakic. Still, it was Rakic who came away far worse, suffering a leg injury that ended the fight.

Poland’s Blacowicz (29-9) would have much preferred a “clean” win, but he believes the win boils down to durability and preparation.

“Of course. Always, I’m a fighter, I’m a warrior. It’s better when you win by KO, TKO submission. Clean, yeah. KO, TKO,” Blachowicz said following the fight, asked about the nature of the win. Speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press, he added “But my body was tougher tonight, that’s it. End of story. I was ready for third, fourth, five rounds. He [was] not.”

Given the pair’s respective ranking in the weight class and current champ Glover Teixeira’s willingness to grant a rematch, Blachowicz now hopes he will be fighting for the title next.

“I hope so, that UFC is going to give me another title shot. That I’m going to be the next one. I was [ranked number] one, Rakic was number three. For me, it’s obvious that I’m the number one contender now for the title shot.”

Teixeira is certainly open to the fight, posting a message in support of Blachowicz on twitter prior to Saturday’s event. The champ added that were both to win their respective fights, “then we run it back.”

Blachowicz is also ready for the UFC to return to his native Poland. That has not happened since a 2017 trip to Gdansk; the promotion has only ever been to the European nation twice. It’s never been to the capital of Warsaw.

“I hope so. We don’t have any restrictions right now, everything’s working like before COVID. So let’s go, let’s do it in Poland, why not?” Blachowicz told Cageside Press when asked about the possibility of a show in his homeland. “There’s a lot of good fighters right now from Poland, so it’s going to be a good show.”

Watch Jan Blachowicz’s full UFC Vegas 54 post-fight media scrum above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

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