Jan Blachowicz vs Aleksandar Rakic in works for early next year

According to the latest reports, UFC is trying to book a fight between former UFC Light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz against the no.3 ranked light-heavyweight contender Aleksandar Rakic. The news was first reported by Ariel Helwani. Jan Blachowicz recently fought at UFC 267 against then no.1 contender Glover Teixeira. The fight was a one-sided affair as Glover dominated Jan in all aspects of the game. Glover went on to submit Jan in the second round of the fight via rear naked choke. Glover Teixeira is now going to face the next best guy in the division, Jiri Prochazka. The between Jan Blachowicz and Aleksander Rakic does make sense considering the landscape of the light-heavyweight division.

Jan Blachowicz won the UFC light-heavyweight title against Dominick Reyes when they fought for the vacant light-heavyweight championship. He then went on to make his first title defense against the current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya who stepped up and challenged Jan for the belt in the pursuit of becoming a two-division champion. Israel Adesanya’s dream was stopped in its tracks as Jan defeated him via decision by using his advanced wrestling skills.

In his second title defense, Jan fought Glover Teixeira at UFC 267 on October 30, 2021. Jan Blachowicz had a very rough fight as he couldn’t get going and was eventually submitted by Glover in the second round. Speaking to the media after the fight, Blachowicz accepted that he wasn’t at his best today.

“My performance today was horrible,” Blachowicz said at the UFC 267 post-fight press conference. “I don’t know. I wasn’t champion today, he was. He is.”

“I don’t know, I need time to think about it, but for sure something was bad,” he added. “It wasn’t me. I don’t want to explain myself, he beat me, everybody see that. It’s not over, I’m not a quitter, I will not go anywhere, I will come back here for sure. I need to rest for sure, think a little bit, and for sure I will come back. I’m not a quitter, I’m not a coward, I will not quit. You’re gonna see me in the octagon again.”

Rakic made his UFC debut on September 2, 2017, against Francimar Barroso at UFC Fight Night 115. He won the fight via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 30–27). He then stacked up 4 consecutive wins since his UFC debut but then lost a controversial decision to Volkan Oezdemir. 7 out of 8 media members scored the fight for Rakic.

He then secured two more wins against Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos. He won both of those fights via unanimous decision. Considering the rise of Rakic, the fight with former light-heavyweight champion does make sense.