Blachowicz vs Ankalaev Fight Info, Date & Time
UFC 282 – Main Event Light Heavyweight Championship
Jan Blachowicz (29-9-0, 9 KOs) vs . Magomed Ankalaev (17-1-0, 9 KOs)
Date:'Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022
Fight Time:'This will be the final fight on the main card, which begins at 10 p.m. ET.
Venue:'T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, NV
Coverage:'ESPN+, PPV
Blachowicz vs Ankalaev Odds & Prop Bets
Moneyline:
– Jan Blachowicz: (+250)
– Magomed Ankalaev: (-340)
Method of Victory:
– Blachowicz by KO/TKO: (+550)
– Blachowicz by Points: (+650)
– Blachowicz by Submission: (+1400)
– Ankalaev by KO/TKO: (+130)
– Ankal aev by Points: (+240)
– Ankalaev by Submission: (+950)
Blachowicz vs Ankalaev Prediction
Jan Blachowicz is pushing 40 years old, and this fight is largely being looked at as a "changing of the guard" situation with Ankalev getting his shot at a championship on a 9-fight win streak. It may be too early to crown him, though.
Blachowicz's last win came when Aleks Rakic suffered an injury, but there were still some serious positives to take away from that fight. He wasn't able to stop Rakic's wrestling, but poor defensive grappling has always been Blachowicz's weakness, and Ankalaev is not the opponent to e xpose that. Blachowicz did out-land Rakic 31 to 17 in significant strikes on the feet.
This is a long-time trend too. Glover beat Blachowicz with grappling, but before that Blachowicz had out-struck five straight opponents. In fact, dating back to September 2015 Blachowicz only has one loss in which he wasn't taken down at least twice.
Ankalaev has looked terrific in his UFC career so far, especially as a striker, but he's not a big threat to bring that grappling pressure against Blachowicz, making this fight much more of a toss-up than many are projecting.
This is also a massive step up in competition for Ankalaev, while Blachowicz has no shortage of expe rience in five-round fights against top competition.
Give me Jan Blachowicz in an upset win.
Blachowicz vs Ankalaev Best Bet
Obviously if I'm picking the underdog to win straight up, I love the betting value there. And one of my favorite themes when backing Blachowicz is picking him to win by decision. A few knockouts in a short stretch earned him a reputation as a power striker, but that's really not warranted – at least to the level it gets hyped up at.
His three knockout wins in 2019-2020 are three of only nine KO /TKO wins in his 38-fight MMA career – and that nine includes the Rakic injury, as well as a TKO back in 2010 that came from a corner stoppage.
Blachowicz is an elite striker, but one with highly overrated power. That makes for some nice value on decision props.