Blachowicz Defeats Adesanya, Yan Loses the Title Via Disqualification

Jan Blachowicz defended his light heavyweight title defeating Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 259. The Pole won via unanimous decision, 49-46, 49-45, and 49-45.

This prevented Adesanya (20-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) from becoming the fifth simultaneous champion in the organization, while on the other side, provide Blachowicz (28-8 MMA, 11-5 UFC) his first title defense and the much-needed respect this guy deserves.

For the first time in his UFC career, Adesanya didn’t have an obvious edge over his opponent, nor did he managed to impose his own rhythm. In all the situations when it looked that Izzy might turn up the tempo and that Blachowicz might be losing his breath, the 38-year old would pull something out of his sleeve.

Jan Blachowicz (+205) hands Isreal Adesanya his first loss 😳

(via @espn)pic.twitter.com/eRPHWKp2Mv

— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) March 7, 2021

The first two rounds could have gone either way, but it was apparent that Izzy isn’t managing to control the situation in the octagon. As time went by and Blachowicz looked more and more exhausted, that was when he made the biggest pushes. It could have been some sort of tactics coming out from the Pole who started wrestling in the fourth and the fifth round, thus erasing all the chances Adesanya had on the scoreboards.

On several occasions besides the ones on the ground, we saw that Blachowicz’s size played a big role, especially with a few jabs that shook Adesanya solid. When Joe Rogan asked him about the fact that he didn’t put any weight and yet challenged a much bigger opponent, the Last Stylebender said that he doesn’t have any regrets.

“Never, never,” Adesanya answered on whether he regrets about not having a few pounds more added. “That was just my legs being fatigued. I don’t know what from, I’ll have to watch the tape.”

In other matches of the night, Petr Yan (15-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) lost his title to Aljamain Sterling (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) due to an illegal knee. The Russian would demolish Sterling, who was with one knee on the ground, hitting him that hard that the American couldn’t walk away from the octagon on his own.

Aljamain Sterling is the NEW UFC Bantamweight Champion after this illegal knee disqualified Petr Yan #UFC259https://t.co/lQ6ITgu9ip

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) March 7, 2021

It was an obvious and flagrant illegal move of the former champion who was ahead on the scorecard and had everything in his hands. The incident came in round 4 with both fighters being pretty much exhausted but with Yan controlling the situation and using every situation to hurt the rival.

“That’s not the way I wanted to win. That’s not the way I envisioned this,” Sterling said.

Will there be a rematch between these two? We still don’t know because there haven’t been any talks whatsoever about it.

Amanda Nunez (21-4 MMA, 14-1 UFC) needed only two minutes to roll over Megan Anderson (10-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC), who looked helpless in the octagon during that time. The Lioness would post another dominant performance to keep her featherweight title once again.

🟩Most wins in UFC history amongst women (14)
🟩Most wins in UFC title fights amongst women (9)
🟩Most consecutive UFC wins amongst women (12)

It's too easy for Amanda Nunes🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/xv9kCM3mul

— Elite Media Group (@TheEliteMedia_) March 7, 2021

Aleksandar Rakic (14-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) won via unanimous decision against Thiago Santos (21-9 MMA, 13-8 UFC). The judges scored 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 for the Serb, who continues his rise in the light heavyweight division and might even challenge Blachowicz anytime soon.

The Rocket, as the fans call him, was tactical from the start until the end, handling the powerful Santos very well, and not allowing him to have his usual bursts and explosive attacks. This was the third straight loss for the former title challenger, who pushed Jon Jones to the brink.

The next UFC event is next week in Las Vegas – UFC Fight Night Edwards vs. Muhammad.