Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz wants the chance to pit his legendary Polish power against Glover Teixeira once more. That’s why he’s rooting for the man who dethroned him when he fights again at UFC 275, as he told MMAFighting.com.
“I would like to take the belt from Glover. So I will keep my fingers crossed for him. I wish him the best in this fight. But I hope so if he defends the belt, he will not retire. He needs to give me the rematch, but I focus about Rakic first.”
Jan Blachowicz Rooting For Teixeira at UFC 275
Retirement is a realistic concern, considering that Glover Teixeira at 42 is far and away the oldest champion in the UFC. With a six-fight win streak, and a three-fight finish streak, Teixeira may well want to retire while he’s still on top. He’ll defend his title against Jiri Prochazka, who Jan Blachowicz has long wanted to face in the Octagon. With Blachowicz from Poland and Prochazka from the neighboring Czech Republic, we could see an all-European light heavyweight title fight down the line.
“Jiri is also a really good fight for me, I think all of Europe would like to see this fight with me against Jiri. [He has a] crazy style, weird style, but he does everything really good. We will see. I’m curious. I think if Glover is going to do exactly what he did to me in the fight, he’s going to win the fight and defend the belt.”
Before any of this can happen, however, Jan Blachowicz needs to fight Aleksandar Rakic in a title eliminator. Blachowicz, following the lackluster performance against Teixeira that led to losing the title, knows that he needs to deliver a statement to the rest of the division.
“I’m curious — he’ll give me some answers after this fight for me personally. Strong fighter in every part of the fight. Really good grappling, really good wrestling, excellent standup, knockout punching power but this kind of fight motivates me. I like to fight against strong guys. It gives me better motivation going into the fight.
I know what he’s got for me and I’m going to have an answer for everything he’s got for me. I can’t forget about one thing — I cannot leave the legendary Polish power in the hotel room before the fight. If I don’t forget that, I’m going to win this fight.
Of course, I want to show my real power, my real legendary Polish power, but I don’t want to explain myself. I don’t want to do it. If you see my career, I have a couple of losses before. I think I’m the kind of fighter that I have to lose sometimes because then I have motivation.
I know what I’m doing and why I’m doing that. I feel bad and then I come to the gym and feel stronger, faster and better. I just think I’m the fighter who sometimes has to lose. To feel that fire again inside of me.”
