Originally, the co-main event of UFC 282, Jan Blachowicz versus Magomed Ankalaev was bumped up to the headline and became a championship bout when the title rematch between Jiří Procházka and Glover Teixeira was canceled due to a long-term injury to Jiří Procházka that led to the Czech champion vacating his Light Heavyweight title. With Teixeira opting not to fight Ankalaev, Polish former Light heavyweight champion Blachowicz and the Dagestan-born Russian, Magomed Ankalaev will contest for the title at UFC 282 at the T-mobile Arena in Paradise Nevada. The lines opened with the Russian as the clear favorite.
MMA: UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada
Date: 10.12.2022, 06:00
Where to watch: PPV
Jan Błachowicz
A veteran of UFC, Polish Jan Błachowicz is number 2 in the Light Heavyweight rankings. He was a former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, having picked up the vacant title with a TKO of Dominick Reyes in September 2020. He famously defended the title against then Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, becoming the first person to defeat “The Last Stylebender” in mixed martial arts. In 2021, he relinquished the title to Glover Teixeira, losing via submission in October 2021. The former KSW Light Heavyweight champion, who made his UFC debut in 2014, has already fought once this year: a TKO victory over Aleksandar Rakić. Blachowicz is a reliable striker, using his reach to maximize his stern jab. His grappling and ground game are understated, and at almost 40 years old, it’ll be interesting to see how motivated he still is to compete at the highest level. This will be his second PPV after the Adesanya fight, which was on PPV too.
Tale of the Tape
- Age: 39
- Height: 6’ 2”
- Weight: 205 Ib
- Reach: 78”
- Record: 29-9-0
Magomed Ankalaev
A rising star in the Light Heavyweight class of the UFC, the Dagestani fighter is 9-1 in the promotion. After Jiří Procházka vacated the title, Glover Teixeira refused to fight Ankalaev leading to the matchup between Ankalaev and Blachowicz. In his promotional debut, he lost to Paul Craig in his only professional loss in London in 2018. After dominating Craig for almost the entirety of the bout, he succumbed to a triangle choke in the last seconds of the third round. The Russian is an excellent grappler with an effective ground-and-pound. His wins in the promotion include Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith, both of who he beat this year. This will be his second headline fight and first PPV.
Tale of the Tape
- Age: 30
- Height: 6’ 3”
- Weight: 205 Ib
- Reach: 75”
- Record: 18-1-0
Expert Betting Odds
Jan Blachowicz is a massive underdog in this bout at 3.00 odds to win on Bet 365. Ankalaev is 1.30 odds to win on Bet365. The odds are similar on Betking at 3.15 odds and 1.35 odds, respectively for Blachowicz and Ankalaev. For rounds betting, 1xbet lists over 2.5 at 1.6 odds and under 2.5 rounds at 2.25 odds.