After Jiri Prochazka relinquished his title due to an injury ahead of UFC 282 and the refusal of Glover Teixeira to fight another opponent, the UFC decided to book a title fight between the number two contender Jan Blachowicz (29-9) and number three challenger Magomed Ankalaev (18-1) for the vacant 205-pound title inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Ankalaev, who is on a hot streak now of nine straight wins, is the clear favorite in the UFC odds at -275, while Blachowicz, the former champion, will be the underdog in UFC betting at +210. This will be Blachowicz’s second UFC vacant title fight after he defeated Dominick Reyes in September 2020, while Ankalaev will appear in his first title match.
Jan Blachowicz Recent Fight Results
Jan Blachowicz has been a mainstay in the UFC’s light heavyweight division since making his promotional debut in October 2014, where he TKO’ed Ilir Latifi in the opening round of their match. Before making it to the Las Vegas-based MMA organization, Blachowicz was a force in the European MMA circuits and accumulated a 17-3 record. He even won the KSW Light Heavyweight Title before his UFC stint.
Despite the dream start due to his TKO victory, the Polish had a rough five-fight stretch where he only won one and dropped the other four. Jimi Manuwa and Corey Anderson unanimously beat Blachowicz in April and September 2015, respectively. He was able to bounce back with a unanimous decision win over Igor Pokrajac in April 2016 to save his contract with the promotion. But, he was immediately sent back to the losing end with another back-to-back setback.