Jan Blachowicz opened up about a potential rematch with Israel Adesanya after he defeated his longtime rival Alex Pereira to regain the middleweight championship at UFC 287.
While speaking with James Lynch in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Blachowicz spoke about his tweet about possibly moving down to 185lbs and challenging Adesanya for the middleweight championship. He mentioned that he believes he can make 185lbs and was serious about a rematch.
He said:
“If I won’t do this [cut to 185lbs] serious, I would not say it. I feel that I could do it, I can cut my weight and fight against him [Israel Adesanya] in his division. But we’ll see, you know, what he gonna say? If they want to do it or not, we will see.” [1:07 – 1:24]
The former light heavyweight champion added that he would prefer to remain at light heavyweight, but he mentioned that a rematch and title fight against ‘Izzy’ would be appealing to him, saying:
“I prefer to stay in my weight but if they would give me this fight because you know this is title shot, fight against someone like Israel, very big motivation that way I could cut my weight and fight in middleweight.”
It remains to be seen what the UFC have planned for Adesanya as there are a number of possible opponents at both middleweight and light heavyweight, including Dricus Du Plessis and Jan Blachowicz should he defend his middleweight championship or Jamahal Hill should he challenge for the light heavyweight championship.
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Jan Blachowicz handed Israel Adesanya his first career loss in MMA
Jan Blachowicz is an appealing option should the UFC book a rematch with Israel Adesanya as he handed the middleweight champion his first career loss in MMA when they fought at UFC 259 in 2021.
At the time, the unbeaten middleweight champion was looking to achieve double-champ status as he moved up to challenge for the light heavyweight championship. The Polish champion earned a unanimous decision after the judges scored the bout 49-45, 49-45, and 49-46 in his favor.
‘Izzy’ could see an opportunity to settle another score in the octagon as he most recently defeated his longtime rival Alex Pereira via spectacular knockout at UFC 287.