UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz takes nothing for granted and continues to insist that he prepares for the best version of Glover Teixeira, despite admitting that he will be “looking for a knockout.”
Blachowicz (28-8) will make the second defense of his 205-pound title when he takes fight on Teixeira (32-7) in the main event of UFC 266 on September 4. The UFC has not announced an official venue for this pay -per-view event still.
The Polish light heavyweight king was last seen in fight in Las Vegas, Nevada, when he defeated then-unbeaten star Israel Adesanya (20-1) via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-45, 49-45), live on BT Sport.
Despite his recent success, however, the 38-year-old new father to baby boy Jan Jr knows he can’t afford to rest on his laurels against the two-time UFC light heavyweight title challenger.
“He’s got a lot of experience,” Blachowicz said to the UFC. “Similar way to me to get to the title shot. A couple of losses then the win streak. Finally he got his chance, so I have to be careful because also that could be his last fight. For the title or maybe last fight in his career, so he’s gonna be in the best shape ever.”
But that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t got a few tricks of his own hiding up his sleeve.
“So I have to be ready for the best Glover ever in his life, and I will be ready,” he added. “Good boxing, really good takedowns, jiu-jitsu high level. So, tough opponent, he’s got a lot of experience, so I just have to be careful. But I think I find a way like always to beat him and knock him out and finish the fight before time.”
Heading into the fight, Blachowicz is rated as the No. 7 best pound-for-pound fighter in the world by the UFC, and he’ll be looking to cement his place as the best 205-pounder on the planet.
He has won two of his last three fights via knockout, including wins over Corey Anderson and Dominick Reyes.
And Blachowicz is planning to ‘bless’ Teixeira with his legendary Polish power.
He continued: “I think I finish him in stand-up, knockout by hands or kicks. I’m gonna be looking for the knockout, but also it’s gonna be nice to try my jiu-jitsu skills against him. But for safety, I’ll keep the fight standing. No bad blood, but inside the octagon there will be a lot of blood.”