We are just days away from the light heavyweight title fight between champion Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya at UFC 259. The stakes are high with ‘The Last Stylebender’ moving up a weight class to try and become the promotion’s eighth two-division champion.
‘I Want To Choke Somebody’
Both Adesanya and Blachowicz are predominantly strikers, but the Polish 38 year old is expected to utilise his superior grappling skills at UFC 259. However, speaking to the local media in New Zealand before leaving for Las Vegas (as transcribed by BJPenn.com), the middleweight champion warned his opponent against taking the fight to the mat.
“You guys haven’t even seen me on the ground yet,” Adesanya said. “I mean, just got my purple belt courtesy of Andre Galvao in San Diego at the Headquarters. While I was there for five weeks, I can tell you, they can tell you, my jiu-jistu went all the way up. I look forward to using my grappling at some point. I do want to choke someone out, but they just keep getting knocked out.”
Adesanya said that while he would prefer a striking match with Blachowicz at UFC 259, he does have a few tricks up his sleeve in the grappling department.
“Not really, I do like striking. But it’s a deceptive thing,” Adesanya noted. “I’m like alright if you want to jump in the pit, in the hole of my game, and see how deep that hole goes, be my guest. By the time it’s too late they found out it’s a trap and they can’t get out.”
Recipe To Beating Adesanya
On the other hand, Blachowicz feels confident ahead of his blockbuster fight this weekend. Speaking to Sports Illustrated, the ‘Prince of Cieszyn’ said that he would use his power to hand Adesanya his first MMA loss.
“It’s hard to find sparring partners who are similar to him,” Blachowicz said. “We found great kickboxers that do some of the things he does. I think we’ve found the way to beat him, how to stop him. My camp has me prepared, I’ll use my power, and I believe I will be the first one to beat him.”
Both Adesanya and Blachowicz are coming off dominant wins at UFC 253 in their respective title fights against Paulo Costa and Dominick Reyes.
Who do you think wins the UFC 259 headliner between Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya?
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