Jan Blachovich He was looking for a shredder Aleksandar Rakic kicks in the shin, but it was ultimately a devastating knee injury that gave the former Light Heavyweight Champion the victory in UFC Vegas 54’s The main event.
From the start of the fight, Blachovich deflected away from Rakesh with a series of poor kicks in the calf, but when he pressed forward in the third round, the Austrian fighter took a step back and bent his knee. Rakic fell to the ground in palpable pain as the referee rushed to stop the fight at 1:11 in the third round.
Although it probably wasn’t the way he wanted to win, Blachowicz can still celebrate his victory as he defeated another top contender, hoping he’ll soon get a chance to contend for UFC gold again.
“That’s what I expect,” Blachovich said afterwards. “Round one, something happened to my eye. But I feel like the first round was really good. He has an injury, that’s what he is. S*** happens sometimes. I can’t wait to get in again. Hopefully the UFC will give me the next shot.”
With a chance to make a statement in the light heavyweight division, both fighters came out firing early, with Rakic opening a cut under Blachowicz’s eye during the first exchange with his right hand right down the middle. Unchecked, Blachowicz went straight back at him with a left to body followed by a massive right over the top that put Rakic’s head back.
That’s when Blachowicz also began targeting the key leg with a series of devastating calf kicks, which immediately caused damage as Rakic shifted his positions to fend off persistent attacks. He used the power of Polish Knockout to set his hands next as he started making Rakic push with his boxing sets.
With his leg heavily swollen, Rakic looked to attempt a removal with a head kick to slow Blachowicz, although he had to fight a triangle choke attempt from below. However, once he escaped, Rakic began throwing punches from above with Blachowicz stuck under him.
Rakesh maintained control, occasionally throwing elbows and having Blashovic defend his back until the end of the second round.
With the foot reset to start the third, Blachowicz again targeted the leg and threw massive force behind every kick. There was significant swelling and bruising to the front of Rakic’s leg, indicative of the extent of the damage Blachowicz inflicted throughout the fight.
When Blachowicz got into another combination with his hands, he backed Rakic back up – at which point his knee seemed to slip away from him.
Replays showed what appeared to be a crack in his knee when Rakic fell on his back foot, causing him to fall to the ground in excruciating pain.
After the fight, Blachowicz shared some words of encouragement with Rakic and promised that he would become a champion one day.
As for the score in the fight, Blachowicz gets the win as he looks to get straight back into the title fight after falling to Glover Teixeira To inspect the belt last October.
With Teixeira already invited for a second match in the future, Blashovic was more than happy to accept him, as he would now encourage the Brazilian to win on his own. Jerry Prochazka In the UFC 275 The main event is in June.
Let’s go Tweet embed Win tonight… and I’ll win on June 11… Then we bring it back again
– gloverteixeira May 15 2022
“Glover, keep his fingers on [crossed] Blachovich said. “I hope so we will fight again.”
“Total coffee junkie. Tv ninja. Unapologetic problem solver. Beer expert.”
