Jan
Blachowicz has made his case for a rematch against Alex
Pereira upon his return to action.
Pereira (10-2) earned a narrow split decision over Blachowicz
(29-10) to make good on his debut in the light heavyweight division
at
UFC 291 in July 2023. While Blachowicz was scheduled to fight
Aleksandar
Rakic at
UFC 297 this past January, the former champ was forced to
withdraw due to a shoulder injury that required surgery.
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Meanwhile, Pereira went on to secure the 205-pound title in a clash
against Jiri
Prochazka and then defended his second UFC title with a brutal
knockout win over Jamahal
Hill in the main event at UFC
300 last month. While Blachowicz considers “Poatan” to be a
better fighter than Hill, he doesn’t think the Brazilian is better
than himself.
Making his case for a rematch against the reigning 205-pound king,
Blachowicz is steadfast in his belief that he won their first
encounter. The Polish standout also noted that while Pereira has
knocked out most of his recent opponents, the Brazilian had to go
the distance with him. Expecting to return to action towards the
end of this year, the 41-year-old is eyeing a rematch.
“[Pereira] is better fighter than Jamahal but he is not a better
fighter than me. And I believe that I deserve the rematch,”
Blachowicz said in an interview with Fanatics View. “When he [fought] against me I still
believe that I won the fight. [Judges] see different scores, but I
believe that I won this fight against him and I believe that I
deserve the rematch. You know he knocked out everybody, [but] not
me. So, I believe that when I come back, I believe that I can fight
against him one more time. So I think my next fight will be at the
end of the year, not earlier, for sure not earlier.”
The light heavyweight title picture remains convoluted with
Jiri
Prochazka making a case for a title shot following a
come-from-behind technical knockout win over Aleksandar
Rakic at UFC 300. On the other hand, Magomed
Ankalaev, who is coming off a KO win over Johnny
Walker and hasn’t lost since his UFC debut in 2018, is also
rallying for a bid. Meanwhile, Pereira has expressed interest in
fighting Prochazka for the title next but has also been called out
for a match against heavyweight king Jon Jones.