Jan Blachowicz wants Jiri Prochazka vs Aleksandar Rakic for No.1 contender fight

UFC Light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz has proposed that he wants to see Jiri Prochazka fight Aleksandar Rakic in a no.1 contender fight.

After the longtime UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones vacated the title and moved up to heavyweight in pursuing to become the heavyweight champion, Jan Blachowicz fought Dominick Reyes for the vacant title. Jan won the fight via TKO in the second round to become the new UFC Light Heavyweight champion.

Błachowicz defended the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against current UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 259. He won the fight via unanimous decision and became the first person to defeat Adesanya in the MMA setting. Now Jan is all set to defend his throne for the second time against the division’s veteran Glover Texeira at UFC 266 in September.

Other than two rising contenders in the light-heavyweight division are waiting to get their title shot. Jiri Prochazka who is on a 12-fight winning streak is eying a title shot along with Aleksandar Rakic who is 6-1 in his past seven UFC fights. But according to the champion Jan, he wants them both to fight each other and give a no.1 contender to the division instead of waiting around.

Speaking to James Lynch, Blachowicz was asked who he thinks will be next in line to fight for the belt after Teixeira, to which he replied by giving out some names he thinks will be his future opponents.

“I believe that I will beat Glover and I will defend my belt again. After that, maybe they’re going to give me Jiri. I think he needs to do one more fight against Rakic, then we’re gonna know who’s going to be the next contender for the belt. And a lot of people forget about (Magomed) Ankalaev. He’s also in the game and maybe one of these guys will be my next opponent after Glover,” Blachowicz said.

In another interview, Jan Blachowicz also talked about the respect he has earned after becoming the champion.

“I think people start to respect me—not start, they respect me,” Blachowicz told Submission Radio (transcription via Denis Shkuratov). “They know that I’m the true champion right now. You see what Jon Jones is doing, nobody knows what is in his head right now. Maybe he will not fight anymore because he thinks that he’s not so good. No, he is so good, but we catch [up to] his level and even we are now much better than he was. And I think that he knows that and that’s why he doesn’t want to fight anymore. I think that. But we will see.

“But I don’t care about him. We will see. Maybe in the future he comes back to fight again. But like I said before, people treat me like a true champion. I am a true champion. I am happy about that.”

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