Solving the puzzle of the Polish Powerhouse, UFC Light-Heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz

Poland's Jan Blachowicz had seen mixed success in the UFC coming into his title fight at UFC 253. In April of 2017, Blachowicz had a 2-4 record in the UFC and was on the brink of being cut. But a 4-fight win streak brought about a career resurgence. A small bump in the road came in a loss to Thiago Santos, but Blachowicz once again picked himself up and dusted himself off and four fights later, at UFC 253, the Polish sensation earned the title of best Light-Heavyweight in the world.

Blachowicz has fresh motivation in his life after the birth of his son with his partner Dorota. On Saturday night he will look to become the only blemish on Israel Adesanya's otherwise perfect 20-0 professional record and silence the naysayers.

While much of the media hype around the main event of UFC 259 has centred around Adesanya's pursuit of champ champ status, Blachowicz is not to be taken lightly. His legendary 'Polish Power' has earned him four Performance of the Night bonuses, and he will look to add to this impressive resume with an emphatic display against the New Zealander. 

Blachowicz presents a very tricky puzzle for Adesanya to solve. Not only is he a knockout specialist, he also has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under the tutelage of Joe Moreira. While Adesanya will likely have the advantage on the feet due to the versatility of his strikes, should Blachowicz choose to grapple, he may well find his key to victory. Adesanya holds a purple belt under André Galvao but we have not seen his grappling chops tested thus far. Adesanya has showed excellent takedown defence in his career; just look at his fight with Derek Brunson, but the size of Blachowicz will present a unique challenge. Adesanya came out in an interview and said that people should not be surprised if he weighed in under the 205 pound weight limit, but we will have to see if this is just a ruse come weigh ins on Friday.

There are two potential drawbacks in Blachowicz style that could be exploited by Adesanya. Blachowicz is not the most mobile fighter, often keeping his head on the centre line where he is far more vulnerable to strikes. While his strike defence is 54%, Adesanya's movement and variety of strikes could see him get picked off from the outside if he isn't careful. The other potential drawback is one we saw in Blachowicz's loss to Thiago Santos. Coming into the third round of that fight, Blachowicz rushed forward and was caught by a big shot on entry. His impatience was a massive detriment and resulted in a brutal loss. While Blachowicz has shown time and time again an ability to learn from his losses, in the biggest fight of his life he will need to draw upon all his experience to overhaul Israel Adesanya.

With victory on Saturday, Blachowicz will catapult himself to superstardom. In front of him however is his hardest test to date. Will we see an upset victory? It is certainly possible. You can be sure that Blachowicz will be going all out to ensure he gets the victory and bring the belt back to his native Poland!

~ James Eakin

Image credits: [Centre] "Swerve! Jan Blachowicz may wrestle Israel Adesanya after 'Stylebender' reveals new weight for UFC 259", Jesse Holland. Available at: https://www.mmamania.com/2021/3/3/223311251/swerve-jan-blachowicz-may-wrestle-israel-adesanya-ufc-259-grind-his-way-decision-win-mma [Accessed March '21].