If Jan
Blachowicz vs. Israel
Adesanya does come to fruition, it won’t be until March at the
earliest.
That’s when Blachowicz told
ESPN he’d be ready to make his first title defense. The
newly-crowned light heavyweight champion is expecting his first
child with his wife in December, and his native Poland is still
struggling to combat COVID-19. Blachowicz defeated Dominick
Reyes to claim the vacant belt at UFC 253 on Sept. 26, and UFC
president Dana White recently
revealed that reigning middleweight champ Israel
Adesanya will be next to challenge Blachowicz.
“I can fight in March with anybody,” Blachowicz said. “It’s no
problem for me. But I cannot fight any earlier than March. If
Israel wants to wait, no problem.
“In Poland right now, the situation is not so good, and we don’t
know what’s going to happen tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. Right
now we train normally, but nobody knows what our government is
preparing for. We’ll see what’s going to happen later.”
Blachowicz dismissed the notion that he is an easier fight for
Adesanya than former champ Jon Jones
would have been. Jones vacated the light heavyweight crown earlier
this year with designs on moving up to heavyweight. A date for
Jones’ debut in the big-man division is currently unknown.
“Why doesn’t Jon Jones want to fight at 205 [pounds] anymore?
Because he’s afraid of me. That’s why he moved to heavyweight,”
Blachowicz said. “So it’s not gonna be an easy fight for Adesanya,
it’s gonna be a harder fight.”