Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. The next Ultimate Fighting Championship card on ESPN has
lost its headliner. Per MMA
Kultura on Thursday, and later from Ariel
Helwani, Jan
Blachowicz (28-9) has been forced out of his light heavyweight
main event at
UFC on ESPN 33 against Aleksandar
Rakic (14-2) due to an undisclosed injury. According to the
reports, Blachowicz will not be replaced as the matchup will be
preserved for a later date, and the UFC is searching for an
entirely new main event to sit atop the show at the Nationwide
Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on March 26.
Blachowicz was looking to get back in the win column after
surrendering his belt to Glover
Teixeira in late 2021. The former champ had a five-fight win
streak snapped at the conclusion of UFC 267, where he fell victim
to a rear-naked choke from the Brazilian. Blachowicz first claimed
the vacant strap by punching out Dominick
Reyes at UFC 253 in 2020, and he successfully defended it
against Israel
Adesanya. In that bout, he became the first man to beat
Adesanya in MMA.
Austria’s Rakic is a
questionable split decision loss to Volkan
Oezdemir away from a 14-fight win streak. “Rocket” burst on to
the scene with four straight wins inside the Octagon over
increasingly impressive competition, with a knockout of Devin Clark
and a brutal head kick stoppage over Jimi Manuwa
placing him in the Oezdemir matchup. Rakic rebounded from that
setback with a pair of clear-cut decision victories over Anthony
Smith and Thiago
Santos.
While the headlining tilt is no longer on the table, a rumored
welterweight pairing between Neil Magny
(25-8) and Max Griffin
(18-8) has been made official for the March 26 fight card. The bout
was initially reported by MagicM
MMA on Twitter on Jan. 20, and it has been confirmed by
multiple outlets as well as Griffin himself on Instagram.
Longtime UFC vet Magny had his sights set on unbeaten upstart
Khamzat
Chimaev, but he is instead receiving the matchup with Griffin.
A perennial contender in his division, “The Haitian Sensation” last
appeared in May 2021, where he took home a decision victory over
Geoff
Neal. That win righted the ship after a five-round setback
defeat at the hands of Michael
Chiesa, in which that loss halted three triumphs in a row for
Magny. Magny celebrates wins over multiple former champs including
Robbie
Lawler, Carlos
Condit and Johny
Hendricks over the years.
Griffin is currently riding his longest win streak dating back to
his run on the Tachi Palace Fights that led him to an
unsuccessful title fight against Chidi
Njokuani. In his current run, “Pain” has stopped Ramiz
Brahimaj by practically detaching Brahimaj’s ear with elbows,
he went on to put Kenan Song
away in 2:20 and then topped Condit on the scorecards. A win for
the California native would lift his UFC record above .500.
UFC on ESPN 33 will go down inside the Nationwide Arena in
Columbus, Ohio, on March 26. While the marquee matchup has fallen
through, other key tilts on the card include a flyweight banger
between Kai Kara
France and Askar
Askarov, a sure-fire welterweight thriller pitting hometown
fighter Matt Brown
against Bryan
Barberena, and a women’s strawweight affair between Amanda
Ribas and Michelle
Waterson.
