UFC 259: Poland’s Blachowicz stops Adesanya’s victory dance

Israel Adesanya’s bid to become ‘champ champ’ failed early morning Sunday in Las Vegas, United States, as Jan Blachowicz handed him his first career defeat by bouncing back from a slow start to win on points and retain the light heavyweight title at UFC 259

The 38-year-old Blachowicz (28-8) made his first title defence in impressive style by outworking Adesanya (20-1), the fearsome 185-pound champion moving up for a shot at history.

The Polish champion used his size advantage and veteran savvy, taking control of their fight with two huge takedowns and subsequent ground control in the fourth and fifth rounds, Reuters reported.

Blachowicz won 49-46 on two judges’ scorecards and 49-45 on the third.

He ended the fight in full mount while raining down punches on Adesanya, who had never lost in a mixed martial arts career that began in 2012.

The charismatic Nigerian-born New Zealander was gunning to become only the fifth ‘champ champ’ – the holder of a world title in more than one division – by adding Blachowicz’s light-heavyweight belt to his middleweight one.

But he fell short against the Pole and failed to join the elite group of Nunes, Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier and Henry Cejudo.

Blachowicz, who hailed Adesanya’s technique, said, “If I had knocked him out it would have been better but he is a great fighter. I am very happy I handed him his first defeat,” Blachowicz said.

“He hit harder than I thought. He was a bit slower than I expected. He thought I was going to take him down earlier but I had to wait till he was tired.”

“Losses are part of life”, Adesanya said, adding, “This is just my first one in the MMA. If I was going to lose to anyone; what better guy to lose to than a guy like Jan?

He added, “I thought I was going to win. The fight didn’t go exactly the way it wanted to go. The size did play a factor but I could have done better. This is not a one-off. I’m definitely going to come back.

“I dared to be great and now I go back to the middleweight and rule it with an iron fist.”