Jan Blachowicz defeated Israel Adesanya to retain his world light heavyweight title with a unanimous points decision. This was at the UFC 259 in Las Vegas on Sunday, March 7, 2021.
This marks the first defeat to the Nigerian-born fighter, Israel Adesanya, who was set to step up in weight in his 21-fight career.
Adesanya found the bigger size of Blachowicz difficult to handle, especially when the Pole drew his opponent into clinches and down on to the mat late in the bout.
Blachowicz only really became a contender after passing the age of 35 and had also been the underdog when he won the vacant title last year against American Dominick Reyes.
“It didn’t go the way I wanted, but dare to be great”, Adesanya said in his interview with ESPN after his defeat.
With his defeat, the “Stylebender” has failed in his recent bid to join Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Henry Cejudo as one of the five fighters in UFC history to hold titles in two divisions simultaneously.