Israel Adesanya moves up to the light heavyweight division to challenge the champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259. If Adesanya wins this fight then he will become the 5th UFC fighter to hold two UFC titles simultaneously. Izzy will join the elite group of UFC fighters: Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Henry Cejudo, and Amanda Nunes. However, a loss will put an end to Adesanya’s undefeated MMA streak.
Israel Adesanya is the best striker UFC has ever seen. His movements, accuracy, faints have won him some huge fights in the middleweight division. However, he will be taking on Jan Blachowicz who is on a tear in the light heavyweight division.
Jan Blachowicz has brutally knocked out some elite fighters such as Luke Rockhold and Dominick Reyes. Blachowicz won the light heavyweight title by decimating Reyes, a contender who arguably beat Jon Jones, under 2 rounds. It would be a huge mistake to count out Blachowicz despite the striking prowess Adesanya brings into the octagon.
Though most of the fans are leaning towards Israel Adesanya to get the job done at UFC 259 Jon Jones does not agree with that prediction.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones is counting on the legendary polish power of Jan Blachowicz to get the job done. In a recent tweet, Jon Jones predicted Jan Blachowicz to win by KO against Adesanya.
Considering, the rivalry between Jones and Adesanya, it’s not a surprise that Jones picked Adesanya to lose. However, it’s a hard fight to predict.
Jan Blachowicz is a huge threat to Israel Adesanya
Jan Blachowicz can shut the lights out of his opponent at any time. He is a legit black belt in jiu-jitsu and has the ability to really put Adesanya’s ground game to test. And he will have a huge weight advantage when the cage door closes. There are a lot of factors that favor the light heavyweight champion.
However, Adesanya’s striking might nullify those advantages. Adesanya’s last fight against Costa just goes to show the level of striking Izzy brings to the octagon. Paulo Costa who was tearing apart middleweights could not land anything significant on Izzy.
This fight is hard to predict and that’s why it’s one of the most anticipated fights of the year. If Izzy gets the job done then it’s needless to say Adesanya will be sending a clear message to the former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.