Blachowicz: Adesanya Should Take A Safer Fight First

The current plans are to have current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, face Light Heavyweight champion, Jan Blachowicz, for the 205-pound title sometime in 2021.

And while “Prince of Cieszyn” is ready to throw down, he feels Adesanya should’ve slowly transitioned into the division instead of going straight for the title. And it’s not because he’s not deserving, it has more to do with the fact that Jan feels “The Last Stylebender” will be overwhelmed facing the cream of the crop straight away.

“All my life I’m in this category so I know everything about this category. Everything is different,” Blachowicz told MMA Fighting. “Cardio is different. Timing is different. Speed is different. You can train with heavyweight guys, you can train with 205 guys but this is training. A fight is completely different.

“When guys change their category, they’ve got problems with that, problems with everything. Not everyone can be ready for that. We will see.”

Adesanya — (20-0, 9-0 UFC) — has proven to be a worthy fighter, rising to the top of the 185-pound division in record fashion. That’s not lost on Blachowicz, but he still feels he’s going to have several issues.

“Maybe Adesanya will be ready for that but I don’t think so. If he wants to make his first fight at 205, with the champion, it’s going to be a problem for him. I think it would better for him, safer for him if he makes first fight with someone from the contenders, not in the top of the rankings but someone from behind, he said.

“That’s going to be a problem for him, not for me. If he wants to feel the legendary Polish power, I’m going to be ready for his pretty style.”

Of course, Glover Teixeira made a case to put a halt to those plans after earning his fifth straight win after submitting Thiago Santos a few weeks ago. Even Dana White suggested that he could be in line for a title fight.

Whether or not it’s before Adesanya, remains to be seen.