Polish veteran Jan Blachowicz continues his gatekeeping duties with Middleweight champions when he welcomes former 185 - pounds champion Alex Pereira to the Light heavyweight class in the co-main event of UFC 291. The Brazilian Pereira announced that he would gain weight after losing the Middleweight title to Israel Adesanya. Like the Nigerian who fought Jan Blachowicz in 2021 at Light Heavyweight, Alex Pereira will try to get past the former Light Heavyweight champ this weekend at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
MMA: UFC Light heavyweight
Location: Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Where to watch: ESPN+
Date: 30.07.2023. 05.00
Jan Błachowicz
At 40 years old, the former Light heavyweight champion is not only a veteran of mixed martial arts but has stayed competitive at the top of the division in his latter years. In 2020, he picked up the vacant Light heavyweight title with a TKO of Dominic Reyes. He later famously defended the title against Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, becoming the first person to beat “The Last Stylebender” in mixed martial arts. In 2022, he lost the title to Glover Texeira and missed a chance to reclaim it last December when he fought to a split draw against streaking Russian Magomed Ankalaev. Jan Błachowicz went into the fight as an underdog, following the vacation of the Light Heavyweight strap by Jiří Procházka rather than fight Ankalaev. The former KSW Light Heavyweight champion who fights out of Warsaw, Jan Blachowicz, made his UFC debut in 2014 and is a reliable striker and a first-degree black belt in BJJ.
Tale of the Tape
- Age: 40
- Height: 6’ 2”
- Reach: 78”
- Record: 29-9-1
After this fight, me or Alex — I believe that’s going to be me — we’ll have [a] title shot. My next fight after Pereira will be, I think, Jiri Prochazka. So for me, nothing changed; it’s just this. For now, I focus only on Alex. I don’t think about what’s going to happen later. He was a world champion in kickboxing, so I have to be careful. But I want to try my stand up against him in the cage. I am curious how I will feel [against] his stand-up, how I will feel against him. But if I’m going to feel bad and take too many punches, OK, let’s go. Let’s do wrestling.
Alex Pereira
After dominating kickboxing and becoming the first fighter in GLORY history to simultaneously hold two belts at the same time, “Poatan” - which means stone hands - stunned the MMAverse to become only the second man to defeat Israel Adesanya in MMA after Jan Blachowicz when he defeated the Nigerian and claimed the Middleweight title. Although Alex Pereira is still a newbie in mixed martial arts with less than ten professional fights, the Brazilian has made a huge impact with his ferocious power and striking abilities. Taking advantage of a falter by Adesenaya in their first fight, Pereira unleashed his power to win a fifth-round TKO last November. In the rematch earlier this year, Alex Pereira already had the Nigerian in the corner before an exceptional bit of counter-punching from “The Last Stylebender” flattened him. The 35-year-old has six knockouts from seven wins.
Tale of the Tape
- Age: 35
- Height: 6’ 4”
- Reach: 79”
- Record: 7-2
Betting Odds
Jan Bachowicz is the slight favorite going into the fight. On 1XBET, the Polish veteran is priced at 1.77 to win, with Alex Pereira coming in at 2.05 odds. Looking at the total completed rounds on Marathonbet, the under 1.5 is available at 1.727, while the over is listed at 2.09. Alex Pereira to win by KO, TKO, DQ, or Submission is priced at 2.55 on Bet365, with the sportsbook giving odds of 4.50 for Jan Blachowicz by decision.
