Tonight, March 6 at UFC APEX, Las Vegas, Nevada, the main event of UFC 259 features Nigerian born (Lagosian) Israel Adesanya (A.K.A). The last Stylebender)Vs Polish Jan Blachowicz.
Its a fight of Champions, and Blachowicz is the biggest opponent Israel has ever faced.
Israel has dominated the middleweight division being the Champion of the division since 2019 and having defeated all top contenders in the middleweight division now takes a step which many belive is the best move for his career at this point, he moves up to lightheavyweight to face the champion of the division.
Blachowicz is the current UFC light heavyweight Champion and a win for Israel will make him a two division Champion as he is still the reigning UFC middleweight Champion.
The style bender sealed his reign of dominance on the UFC middleweight division when he knocked out Paulo Costa who was undefeated before their fight.
Fight Dynamics.…
The Middleweight division has fighters weighing between 77.1kg(170lbs) and 83kg(183lbs) while the lightheavyweight division is 84kg(185lbs) to 92kg(203lbs).
This means Blachowicz is 10kg heavier than most of Izzy’s opponents and at least 8kg plus or minus, heavier than all the opponents Izzy has faced. The extra weight will mean a lot in this fight as Israel will also need to come in heavier to meet the weight limit and that might slow him down, and his opponent being heavier will make him more difficult to get knocked out by Israel, though it also means he will be slower compared to natural middleweights but it will also mean that Israel will be taking heavier and harder shots from this guy.
Blachowicz is know for his punching power and Israel is know for his striking precision.
Israel is taller by 2inches and also a 2inch reach advantage.
Israel is favored by most to win and Blachowicz is the underdog despite being a Champion in a higher weight class. This is probably because of their records, Israel is undefeated in his 20 UFC pro-career. while Blachowicz has 8 losses in 37 professional fights.
Israel had an outstanding record in professional Kickboxing, 32wins and no defeat as an amateur and 75 wins out of 80 professional fights with only one loss coming in the way of knock out, and with 15 of his 20 wins in the UFC coming by either knockout or technical Knock out, he is the betting favorite for tonight’s main event.
Blachowicz on the other hand has won a good number of Polish and European Mua Thai competitions and holds a blackbelt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This means he will be better in ground work and has good striking ability as well.
Israel has the advantage of youth being 7years younger than Blachowicz.
Each man will try to do the opposite, Israel will like to keep the distance and strike with precision while Blachowicz will want to get inside and slug it out knowing he has more power in his strikes than his opponent but power seems to have little advantage in a fight with the “style bender” as he has mastered the art of picking his opponents apart from a distance until they’re worn out and then, he goes for the kill. His kicks both to the head, body and legs are very deadly.
Fight can go either way but if both fighters stick to their game plan perfectly, Israel has an overall advantage and will most likely win this one, maybe by a unanimous decision if he can’t knockout the Pol.
Isael has his eyes set on greater goals, a fight with UFC legend, Jon Jones(A.K.A “Bones”) who is regarded by many to be the best strikers in the history of mixed martial arts. Jones dominated the lightheavyweight division for years and recently moved up to heavyweight. He is currently ranked number 2 in UFC pound for pound ranking. A matchup between the two will be the “El Classico” of UFC.
Jon “Bones” Jones.
Israel also has his eyes set in the heavyweight title currently held by Stipe Miocic. The reigning UFC heavyweight Champion. Ranked number 5 in UFC pound for pound ranking.
Stipe Miocic.
UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Pound for pound Ranking….
The pound for pound ranking is a ranking system that compares fighters in combat sports irrespective of their weight class. The pound for pound ranking allows for comparison between fighters of different heavyweight classes.
In UFC pound for pound ranking. The fighters of tonight’s main event, Israel’s is ranked number 3, while Jan Blachowicz is ranked number 14. This is another reason why Israel is the betting favorite for tonight.
Whatever the case maybe, it’s should be a very interesting fight.
Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic are numbers 2 and 5 respectively.
The number 1 UFC pound for pound fighter remains Khabib Nurmagomedov the current UFC Lightweight Champion.
Khabib
Apart from tonight’s main event, other fights for these are other events for UFC 259.
It’s going to be a sensational fight night.