In the second minute, the two locked up briefly against the fence before separating, and at range, Blachowicz’ takedown defense remained solid. Blachowicz defended well, getting in an occasional strike as he attempted to tie his foe up and force a restart, but Teixeria stayed busy, making the champion as uncomfortable as possible in the process.īlachowicz turned away Teixeira’s first takedown attempt of round two and followed up with crisp punches at range. What makes that extra significant is that it would give Jones just enough time, in theory, to face the Miocic-Ngannou winner this summer.Teixeira got a takedown in the opening minute and went to work.
Not only does Adesanya envision facing Jones inside a packed Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the new home of the NFL's Raiders, he has gone public this week saying he'd be willing to do so as early as December.
Now, it's a pipe dream until we see how his body holds up to the physical demands of finding success at light heavyweight, but given Jones' ambitions of facing the winner of Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou over the summer to claim the heavyweight crown and the never-ending war of words between Jones and Adesanya, it's not hard to see how this plays out. "One of them being the challenge of Jan Blachowicz, a very good and bigger fighter."īut not only is Adesanya ready for the move to 205 pounds, there's still a chance he one day goes a step further to heavyweight. "It was the right time for Israel to move up a division for several reasons," Bareman said.
It's impressive enough that Adesanya, despite his wiry frame, has chosen to take on the risk by moving up to face Blachowicz (27-8), a 38-year-old Polish slugger who upset his way to winning the UFC's light heavyweight title last September by stopping Dominick Reyes after longtime king Jon Jones vacated the title to move up to heavyweight.īut what makes this decision for Adesanya even more intriguing is what might happen next and the rarefied possibilities of what there is for "The Last Stylebender" to accomplish should he have his way with Blachowicz like the oddsmakers expect him to. Since his UFC debut in February 2018, Adesanya is 9-0 with victories over a who's who in recent middleweight division history. When Eugene pitched the idea to me, I was just like, 'You make sense, you make sense … it also makes dollars.'"Ī 31-year-old native of Nigeria, who fights out of City Kickboxing in New Zealand, Adesanya is fresh off authoring one of the most dominant three-year stretches to kick off a UFC career that the promotion has ever seen. I have many artists who have had a lot of work put into me and I have to consider their feelings, as well. "They all had a meeting and Eugene was like, 'This is the best move to make, we think, we think.' Literally, on the way to the restaurant, my coach and everyone decided behind my back," Adesanya told ESPN's Ariel Helwani on Tuesday. As Israel Adesanya remembers it, the decision to double down on his meteoric rise from former kickboxing star to unbeaten UFC champion by moving up in weight to challenge light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz on Saturday at UFC 259 was made for him by his coach, Eugene Bareman, a mere five months ago.Īdesanya (20-0) was less than an hour removed from dismantling unbeaten challenger Paulo Costa to make the second defense of his unified 185-pound title at UFC 253 when he was given instructions regarding the future during a car ride leaving from the hotel in Abu Dhabi.