UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will attempt to become a two-weight champion on March 6, when he moves up in weight to challenge light heavyweight titleholder Jan Blachowicz.
A champion vs. champion fight will go down in March when reigning UFC light heavyweight titleholder Jan Blachowicz puts his belt on the line against middleweight king Israel Adesanya, who looks for a second championship.
Blachowicz (27-8 MMA, 10-5 UFC) and Adesanya (20-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) have agreed to clash in the UFC 259 headliner on March 6. Dana White announced the news to promotional partner ESPN.
Adesanya will get a chance to be a double champ
Jan attempts his first title defense after capturing the vacant title with a second-round finish of Dominick Reyes at UFC 253. After losing four of five between April 2015 and April 2017, Jan has gone 8-1 in his past nine appearances and has won four straight. The 37-year-old also holds stoppage wins over Corey Anderson and Luke Rockhold on the road to his first UFC title.
UFC middleweight champ Adesanya is undefeated in 20 pro fights, including nine straight in the octagon. “The Last Stylebender” captured the interim middleweight title with a unanimous decision win over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236 in one of the best fights of 2019. The City Kickboxing standout became the undisputed champion when he put away Robert Whittaker in a title unification bout at UFC UFC 243.
Israel Adesanya has expressed interest in moving up to Light Heavyweight in an attempt to become Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) next “champ-champ,” even though Robert Whittaker is waiting in the wings for his shot at revenge against the Middleweight champion.
If it’s a light heavyweight title shot that Israel Adesanya desires, Jan Blachowicz is ready and willing to oblige. As it stands, there isn’t a clear-cut No. 1 contender at 205 pounds. As far as the landscape at 185 pounds, Whittaker earned a shot at reclaiming his strap by battering Jared Cannonier last Saturday at UFC 254.
Despite being the crafty striker that he is, Adesanya will need the necessary power in his hands to knockout a proper light heavyweight.
The latest UFC 259 lineup now includes:
- Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya – for the light heavyweight title
- Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson – for women’s featherweight title
- Aleksandar Rakic vs. Thiago Santos
- Dominick Cruz vs. Casey Kenney
- Askar Askarov vs. Joseph Benavidez
- Sean Brady vs. Jake Matthews
- Randy Costa vs. Trevin Jones
- Aalon Cruz vs. Uros Medic
- Tim Elliott vs. Jordan Espinosa
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