BEVERLY HILLS, March 07, (THEWILL) – In the main event of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 259, previously undefeated Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya lost his bout as Jan Maciej Blachowicz successfully defended his light heavyweight title in a unanimous-decision triumph at the Apex facility in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Adesanya was attempting a move up in the weight division and it proved to be more than he could handle as the light heavyweight champion took advantage of his size and strength to take control of the championship match.
The two fighters took their time in the first frame of to size each other up and, though none of them landed any strikes worthy of note, it set the stage for the action that was to come in the rounds that followed.
In the second round, the excitement started to build up as Blachowicz and Adesanya gradually began to open up a little bit. Even if the overall pace did not pick up speed immediately, Adesanya started picking at Blachowicz’s lead leg while the defending champion had some success charging forward with combinations and peppering Adesanya with his jabs.
Fans got their money’s worth when the third round opened up the championship contest to the full. Blachowicz got the first takedown of the fight and for the first time Adesanya showed what he could do when grappling a larger opponent. To his credit, he worked his way to his feet and stung the defending champions with a few punches of his own.
To bring the pace more to his favour, Blachowicz utilised the clinch once again as the early action defined that round while the match proceeded into championship rounds.
This played in favour of the natural light heavyweight. Blachowicz got another Adesanya takedown well in the fourth and successfully held The Last Stylebender down for the majority of the round, the easiest to score of the four in favour of the Polish champion. It was not too different in the fifth. Blachowicz’s size and grappling advantage was more than Adesanya could contend with for much of the round.
The defense of his title cements Blachowicz’s status as the light heavyweight champion as it was his first chance to defend the belt since winning the vacated title against Dominick Reyes in September 27, 2020 at UFC 253, which he won via a second round Technical Knockout.
The light heavyweight division title was vacated by Jon Bones, who after ruling the division for the better part of a decade left to chase a title in the heavyweight division, and for many fans of the UFC, Bones remains the man to beat in the light heavyweight division.
However, currently, Blachowicz has secured his place in light heavyweight history. In the post-Jones era, he has separated himself as the best fighter in the division right now, and there are some intriguing non-Jones options for him in the offing for more defense bouts.
For the Nigerian-born, New Zealand fighter, Adesanya’s attempt to become the fifth UFC fighter to hold belts in two divisions simultaneously did not pan out as he would have loved it to. Amanda Nunes, Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier and Henry Cejudo remain the UFC’s only simultaneous two-belt champions.
Adesanya’s reliance on technique to overcome brute strength was not effective enough to carry the day. The middleweight champ was the sharper and more aggressive of the two early on but Blachowicz’s onslaught at the end won the Pole the unanimous victory.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
