Issue 193

November 2020

Few gave him a chance, but Jan Blachowicz is the UFC’s new light heavyweight king and the toast of his home country of Poland. “I worked my whole life for this,” he tells Fighters Only as he looks ahead to his first defense.

Surprises aren’t exactly rare in Mixed Martial Arts, but if you had told anyone back in 2017 that Jan Blachowicz would be the UFC light heavyweight champion it’s likely that few would’ve taken you seriously. Back at UFC 210 in April 2017, Blachowicz suffered his fourth loss in five fights after dropping a majority decision to Patrick Cummins in Buffalo, New York. Many thought the Pole was on the brink of being given his marching orders from the UFC, but later that year his career took an incredible turn.

With his roster spot most definitely on the line, Blachowicz submitted Devin Clark in front of his home country fans at UFC Gdansk, before then going on to beat Jared Cannonier before the year-end. 2018 proved another successful 12 months for the Pole as he gained revenge over former foe Jimi Manuwa and then went on to submit Nikita Krylov at UFC Moscow in September.

Thiago Santos halted Blachowicz’s four-fight win streak in February 2019, but just four months later at UFC International Fight Week, the former KSW champion picked up the biggest win of his career when he knocked out Luke Rockhold under the bright lights of UFC 239. With the wind firmly back in his sails, Blachowicz then proceeded to defeat Ronald “Jacare” Souza and Corey Anderson to put himself in contention for a UFC title shot for the first time in his career.

Jon Jones’ hesitation to move up to heavyweight and the COVID-19 global pandemic meant the 37-year-old had to wait patiently for his chance to fight for UFC gold, but when his time came, Blachowicz grasped it with both hands. The former title contender Dominick Reyes walked into their bout at UFC 253 the favorite following his narrow loss to Jones earlier in the year, but it was the man from Cieszyn, Poland who walked away from Fight Island with the UFC title strapped around his waist.

From the opening seconds of the fight, Blachowicz stood toe-to-toe with the American and brutalized Reyes’ body with powerful kicks that left visible welts down his side. As the damage began to take its toll on Reyes, Blachowicz kicked it up another gear and as the second round looked to be coming to a close, he finished the fight after dropping his opponent with a devastating combination of punches.

After 13 years of blood, sweat and tears, Blachowicz had reached the top of the mountain. It took him 35 fights to prove to the world that he was championship quality, but on September 27 at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, Blachowicz overcame all odds to have the UFC title wrapped around his waist. Speaking recently to Fighters Only, the Pole still hadn’t come to terms with his achievement. 

“I honestly can’t describe that feeling,” Blachowicz said. “It’s impossible to explain how I felt at this moment. I worked my whole life for this and it was my dream to achieve this belt. I finally got there and the road to the title was long and difficult. I had so many ups and downs, but at this moment I knew that I was finally at the top. It was truly amazing. It’s so hard to explain what that feels like. It was the greatest moment of my fighting life without a doubt.”

Blachowicz’s career certainly hasn’t come without setbacks with his run in 2015 to 2017 easily the most challenging. It’s often said that losses can lead to a fighter making improvements, but in just as many circumstances losses can lead to a career falling off the tracks. This was never something Blachowicz was ever going to let happen to him. 

“When you lose a fight, you’re always angry, sad and disappointed, but I never let myself feel like this for too long,” Blachowicz said. “After all my losses I always looked at the fight and my training camp and figured out what went wrong. All of the losses I had made me a much better fighter, but it was all about connecting the dots and understanding where I needed to improve. 

“I’ve never been the sort of person to dwell on a loss for too long,” he continued. “I don’t feel like I’ve ever made the same mistake twice. I’ve made a few bad decisions in my time, but I’ve done my best to make sure that I don’t repeat the errors that I’ve made.”

Though never in a space where he’d let himself dwell on a loss for too long, it’s fair to say that the pressure of fighting for his job wasn’t lost on Blachowicz when stepping into the cage to fight Clark in October 2017. With the eyes of his Polish people on him in Gdansk, Blachowicz submitted the American in incredible fashion with an opportunistic standing guillotine that netted him a ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus. It was do or die for Blachowicz and the Pole went with the former.

“It’s a different pressure when you’ve lost two fights in a row because all the time in the back of your head you know that if you lose again, you probably aren’t going to be in the UFC anymore,” Blachowicz recalled. “Losing again in that situation means all your dreams are over, so the pressure is very high. I never let this feeling overcome me though and genuinely believe it made me a much better fighter than I was. Sometimes the pressure can get the best of you and I think that’s true of the situation here.”

Fighting for your job brings a certain type of pressure, but fighting to become the first Polish man to ever capture UFC gold brought the pressure of a nation. With his training camp occurring right in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Blachowicz had to make some changes in his preparation, but for the most part, he did everything he possibly could to make the lead up to the fight as normal as possible.

“The first few weeks were hard for me because the gym was closed,” Blachowicz said. “I had to make my own gym in my small backyard, but after a few weeks we found a secret place to go to train and it was relatively normal. I didn’t have many sparring partners to choose from but we made do. 

“I’ve always tried to find energy in any situation I’ve been in, so for the fight against Dominick I tried to approach it like it was any other fight. I had to convince myself that it was just a normal fight because the pressure for me surrounding the build-up was huge. I just prepared like it was a normal 25-minute fight and my whole training camp for the fight was very good.

“Fight week was also great,” he continued. “The acclimatization to Fight Island was brilliant. I honestly just felt perfect. I knew deep down it was a really important fight, but I just didn’t let myself think about it too much. It obviously worked out for me. People were talking it up as the most important fight in Polish MMA history, but I didn’t let myself think about that until afterwards.”

Little did he know, but life after September 27 was never going to be the same. Poland has often been heralded as a fighting nation and with the UFC light heavyweight belt strapped around his waist, Blachowicz gave his nation the opportunity to celebrate a historic moment in their combat sports history. Joanna Jedrzejczyk had, of course, famously won the UFC strawweight title back in 2015 to become the first Polish UFC champion, but Blachowicz’s victory propelled him to a level of stardom for which he was unprepared.

“It’s fair to say life has changed quite a bit,” Blachowicz said with a chuckle. “I’ve done so many interviews, met the Prime Minister, and just so many good things have happened to me since I returned home. The response back home to my win has been nothing short of amazing. I thought the reaction would be big, but this is beyond my wildest dreams. I’ve done so many interviews I’ve lost count, but this Monday I was back in the gym. A lot of my teammates have fights coming up, so I had to get back to work for them.” 

Blachowicz was greeted at the airport by hundreds of fans cheering his name and clapping as he touched down on Polish soil for the first time since his victory at Fight Island. It was an overwhelming scene for the newly crowned champion and one that exceeded his expectations.

“I thought there might be one or two people to welcome me home, but I never imagined there would be that many people,” Blachowicz said. “Some people had driven over seven hours just to see me at the airport. I expected just to see my friends from the gym and my family, but when we landed at our stopover in Frankfurt, the airport in Poland called us to say there were lots of people waiting for us to land. We had to land at a different terminal because there were so many fans there to see me. It was just incredible. I’m like a hero right now in Poland.

“Many people recognize me on the street. Right now, it’s a little weird,” he continued. “Even the kids next door came round yesterday and asked for a photo and an autograph. It’s crazy, but it’s nice. People just keep coming up to me and saying that they are proud of me and that I’ve made history. It’s just amazing. Just a great feeling.”

If being mobbed by fans at the airport and then in his hometown of Cieszyn wasn’t enough, Blachowicz was then given the honor of meeting Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki. Cynics would’ve thought that it was simply a politician looking to get a photo opportunity with the nation’s latest hero, though the new UFC champion quickly learned that Mr. Morawiecki is a longtime MMA fan.

“When I went to meet him everyone was so excited and there was a lot of security,” Blachowicz said. “I was a little nervous meeting him, but we didn’t talk about politics at all, we only talked about sports. He knew almost everything about MMA. I was so surprised that he was so knowledgeable about not just the sport, but about how you need to eat and train when you’re a top-class athlete. We spoke for about 50 minutes and he obviously knew a lot about MMA and not just my win.”

Though enjoying his victory for the time being, talk has already begun regarding Blachowicz’s next fight. No clear number-one contender is currently in place, though the Pole has a shortlist in his head about who could be the first challenger for his newly won title. 

“In December I’m going to become a father, so for the minute I’m just going to think about that,” Blachowicz said. “I think a good time frame for me fighting-wise would be March. That would be perfect. 

“The best opponent would, of course, be Jon Jones,” he continued. “I’m not sure he would want that fight and if he doesn’t I would fight the winner of Glover [Teixeira] and Thiago [Santos]. I’ve got a lot of options so if that all doesn’t work out I’d happily fight [Israel] Adesanya. He said he wanted to come to 205 pounds so we can make that happen. All these three are great options. I’ll just wait to see what the UFC gives me.”

A bout against Adesanya would certainly garner plenty of attention. The trajectory of both men’s careers couldn’t be more different with Blachowicz’s journey of ups and downs starkly contrasting with the Kiwi’s undefeated record. It would make for an interesting clash of styles too and it’s a challenge that the Pole would relish. 

“He’s not lost yet, right? Well, there’s a first time for everything,” Blachowicz said with a chuckle. “I’ll gladly give him the first loss of his career. Look, he’s a great fighter, an amazing champion and I love his style, but I’m just better, stronger, and I’ve got a lot more experience than him. I feel I can handle everything he can bring to the Octagon. 

“I would love to have this fight though. I think it would bring a lot of interest. I don’t think the weight would be too much for him. He could do it in small steps and challenge someone else first at light heavyweight if he wants to test the waters. All I know is that if he fights me, he better be prepared to suffer his first knockout loss.”

At the age of 37, talk of when Blachowicz’s MMA journey might end won’t be too far off. It’s fair to say that the Pole has reached a level that many would have doubted possible, but his accomplishment doesn’t seem to have taken away his hunger. 

For the minute at least, however, Blachowicz’s focus remains solely on defending his title and proving to the world that he belongs at the top of the pile of the UFC’s light heavyweight division.

“I’ve no plans to retire right now and I’m sure I’ll fight for another three years,” Blachowicz said. “After that, I don’t know. We will have to see how I’m holding up both physically and mentally. I still feel like I’ve got a lot of fire inside of me and I want to keep on doing this for as long as I can. When I get no pleasure from stepping inside the Octagon and punching someone, then maybe it’s time to think about doing something different. I don’t think about retiring at all right now. The belt is mine and it’s going to continue to be mine.”