Jan Blachowicz knows he’s in for a tough fight against Dominick Reyes, but he says he’ll stop him when they face off for the UFC light heavyweight title.
Blachowicz (26-8 MMA, 9-5 UFC) faces Reyes for the vacant strap in the co-main event of UFC 253, which is expected to take place at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
After Blachowicz knocked out Corey Anderson in the first round at UFC on ESPN+ 25 in February, he knew a title shot was next. On the other side of the bracket was Reyes, who was edged out by then light heavyweight champion Jon Jones at UFC 247 and has been campaigning for a rematch ever since.
But when Jones announced that he was vacating his belt, the UFC decided to match up the two frontrunners to fight for the vacant title, and Blachowicz says Reyes is a very worthy opponent.
“He did a really great job inside the octagon with Jon Jones,” Blachowicz told MMA Junkie. “He’s a really good fighter, really strong, really good stand-up fighter, so I think it’s gonna be a tough fight for me. But I’m gonna be ready for him and I will try to knock him out or submit him. Or, if it’s gonna be 25 minutes, I win by a decision. I’m gonna be ready for everything and what he’s got for me. But yes, he’s a really impressive fighter, really good, one of the best.”
Reyes (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) took Jones to the brink in February in a fight that many, including Dana White, scored in his favor. Prior to that, he knocked out former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman in less than two minutes.
Blachowicz expects the fight to play out primarily on the feet and doesn’t see the matchup going the distance.
“I think it’s gonna be a standup match, a kickboxing match, but if I’m gonna have the opportunity to take him down, I’m gonna do this,” Blachowicz said. “But I’m not afraid to fight against Dominick in the stand-up so I think that’s gonna be a really good fight to watch and I think someone will go down, and that’s gonna be Dominick. In the third round, I think so. I believe I can do this in the third round. I see this in my dreams when I do my visualization training. Yeah. Third round, he goes down.”
Blachowicz hasn’t minced his words regarding Jones, but is past that fight right now. He’s focused on the title, but doesn’t rule out the possibility of meeting “Bones” in the future, even if it means moving up to face him.
“I’m just happy the fight will be for the title,” Blachowicz said. “Dominick Reyes is also a really good fighter, one of the best in the world, so we both deserve to have this chance and we got it, so I don’t think about Jon Jones right now. He doesn’t exist for me right now. I’m thinking only about Dominick Reyes.”
He continued, “I think that he will come back to 205 in the future. If not, I can go to heavyweight also, no problem for me, and catch him over there.”
Jan Blachowicz predicts finish of Dominick Reyes at UFC 253: ‘Third round, he goes down’
