The main event of Saturday's UFC Vegas 54 was set up to be a really important fight for the future of the light heavyweight division. The former champion Jan Blachowicz was making his first appearance since losing his title and he was stepping in against maybe the most athletic fighter in the division in Aleksandar Rakic. Despite the importance and the level of competition of both men, I was a bit concerned that this fight might be a bit of a staring contest, but that really wasn't the case at all. The fight was overall pretty interesting to watch and I found myself actually getting pretty into the fight. It was a bit of a tale of two fights before the unfortunate ending, which saw Rakic suffer a pretty bad looking knee injury that would leave him unable to continue. Despite the circumstances, Blachowicz got the win and he's set up for a really big fight in his next one. Hopefully Rakic is doing well and his recovery will be simple and smooth. I look forward to seeing him come back better than ever whenever he's ready to go.
I normally start with the winner, but because he suffered an injury that seems like it will keep him out for an extended period of time, I'm going to start with Rakic. I won't be suggesting future opponents for him because the division will change so much by the time that he comes back, that it is hard to project out what the division will even look like when he returns. With that said, I will talk about his performance a bit because while the fight didn't last as long as it otherwise would have, there was enough to talk about. The first round was all on the feet and it didn't go as well for him as the striking typically does. I think the biggest problem for him was that Blachowicz wasn't allowing him to control the round with low kicks. Jan is one of the few guys in MMA who checks kicks with any level of consistency and he was doing it very well again Saturday night. Rakic is normally able to damage his opponent and control them with those low kicks and he wasn't able to do so against Jan. With that weapon neutralized, he was a bit behind Jan. Jan would blitz forward and throw a combination and was able to land pretty consistently. It seemed like Jan had the power advantage like I thought he would and it was effecting Rakic at times. I'm not sure why Rakic didn't throw his jab a little more after he cut Blachowicz in the opening seconds of the fight, but he just seemed a bit tentative. Maybe Blachowicz's power is just that significant and he felt a little uncertain about throwing certain shots. He held his own for the most part and still landed his share of strikes, but Jan definitely won the first round on my scorecard. The second round was much different and much more successful for Rakic. He was able to grab onto Jan's leg and kick out his other foot to finish the takedown. He was able to control Jan for most of the round after escaping a brief triangle attempt. Jan did a pretty nice job in limiting the damage, but Rakic had all of the control time and still landed some nice punches and elbows. Once Jan worked his way over to the cage, Rakic landed a few harder shots that were noticeably better than most ground and pound strikes. Rakic certainly won round two. The third round was taking place all on the feet again and it was a lot of what we saw in the first. It was mostly back and forth with Jan just having slightly more success and then the injury happened. Rakic just stepped back wrong and his knee gave out from under him. He fell to his back and Herb Dean stepped in to stop it before he took any unnecessary damage. Rakic was fighting pretty well and while he was ever so slightly behind on the feet, it was still really close and maybe just one slight adjustment away from winning those exchanges. He also could have taken Jan down and potentially controlled his way to a decision win. We'll never know how the rest of that fight would've played out, but Rakic was really holding his own against a former champion. Again, we'll just root for a quick and seamless recovery and that he can get back to training and competing without any further issue.
At his age and coming off of the disappointment of losing his title, I wasn't really sure what version of Jan Blachowicz we were going to get Saturday night. There was also a story I saw about him having some sort of neck issue where he was experiencing numbness. I wasn't 100% sure of how true that was or if maybe some of the details were foggy due to a language difference, so I didn't talk about it, but that definitely sounds like a problem. Somehow, Jan was able to put all of that aside and turn in a pretty good performance. He ended up getting cut in a very weird location on the inside part of his eye socket in the opening exchanges, but he was able to mitigate its effects, even though he said later that it was bothering his vision. Jan did a really good job when the fight was standing and was able to just slightly get the better of each exchange. As I mentioned before, Jan checking Rakic's leg kicks was a huge piece of him being able to get off his own offense. Rakic likes to control the fight from range with those low kicks and after Jan checked so many of them, they weren't coming back as frequently. Meanwhile, Jan was landing his own low kicks early and often. That had to effect Rakic's movement and his ability to push off and get full power into his strikes and takedowns. Jan was also a little more aggressive and more willing to engage in the pocket than he's been in the recent past. He knew Rakic wanted the striking to take place at range, so he did what he could to make the fight take place in closer quarters. He kept a bit of a higher pace as well, which isn't typical. He had a lot of success when he would use a variation on the Wonderboy Thompson karate blitz style of combination. Jan isn't typically the guy to rush forward and create some controlled chaos, but he was doing a bit of that Saturday and he was probably the best offensive tactic he had going for him. His power was also on full display. The types of shots that each was landing were pretty comparable, but it was clear that Jan's strikes were effecting Rakic more and he even wobbled him slightly in the first after a real clean shot landed and forced Rakic to clinch for a moment. Jan has been a bit shaky in the grappling in his last couple of fights and it is a bit concerning in certain situations. I think his takedown defense is fine for the most part. It isn't great, but it isn't horrible either. The bigger problem in my eyes is his willingness to just maintain his guard and ride out the rest of the round from bottom position. It made sense when he did it against Glover because of how dangerous Glover is with both submissions and strikes, but it didn't make any sense Saturday in my opinion. Rakic isn't known to have almost any real submission offense. His only submission win was in 2013, so I'm not sure why Jan was so afraid to try and get up. It was only one round in a five round contest, but like we saw in Rose vs Esparza, every little thing that can change a round really counts. It didn't hurt him this time, but I would like to see Jan show more of a sense of urgency to get up whenever he gets taken down. That may be knit picking a bit, but all things considered, I was very happy with how Jan looked. He looks ready to challenge for his title again if he is called upon to do so.
As for his next appearance, I think Jan really set himself up for a chance to get his title back. There are other circumstances that are a bit out of his control and we'll have to see how his eye is, but I think he is firmly the number one contender right now. The light heavyweight title will be on the line a few weeks from now and how that plays out will certainly effect the next title shot. If Glover retains his title, I think the UFC would be more tempted to go in another direction instead of running back the Glover vs Jan rematch. If Jiri Prochazka wins the belt, I think Jan has a better chance of getting the title fight. Of course, for Jan to not get the title shot, someone else would have to surpass him and the only logical candidate would be the winner of the Anthony Smith vs Magomed Ankalaev fight that we have on tap in July. If the winner of that fight can do so in impressive fashion, then they would have at least a case to get the next title shot. However, Anthony Smith has also already had a title shot, so I don't know that he could surpass Jan unless he did something outrageous. Ankalaev presents a fresh face to the title picture, so maybe if Glover wins and he defeats Smith impressively, he could sneak his way into a title fight. I don't think it is particularly likely, but it is at least possible. If that were to happen, Jan would probably be looking to fight again to cement his status as number one contender. Possible candidates for a number contender fight at that point could be either Paul Craig or Jamahal Hill if either of them can pick up a huge victory in their next fights. Other than that, I don't think there would be a clear cut candidate to be another half of a true number one contender bout. Given his age, I don't think it is ridiculous that Jan would just sit and wait for the following title shot. He would also have the option of fighting the loser of next month's title fight if Ankalaev or Smith were to pass him up. I think Jan has earned the title shot and even if Glover still has the belt. That version of Jan may very well be the best 205 lbs fighter that the UFC has to offer and maybe even in the world. We've seen Jan vs Corey Anderson play out once before, but I think that would be the true fight for best in the world as things currently stand (assuming Jon Jones is in fact a heavyweight now), but that is a different conversation for a different day.
What did you guys think of the fight? How were you scoring it before the injury? How do you grade each fighter's performance? Do you think Jan did enough to get the title shot? Leave any and all thoughts and comments below. Thanks for reading and have a good one.
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