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UFC 267: Jan Blachowicz reveals KO of ‘arsehole’ Luke Rockhold changed his life

Nick WalshawNews Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 06: (L-R) Jan Blachowicz of Poland punches Israel Adesanya of Nigeria in their UFC light heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 259 event at UFC APEX on March 06, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Camera IconLAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 06: (L-R) Jan Blachowicz of Poland punches Israel Adesanya of Nigeria in their UFC light heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 259 event at UFC APEX on March 06, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) Credit: Supplied

Jan Blachowicz reckons everything changed that night he kayoed the “arsehole”.

Or as you may know him better, Luke Rockhold.

It was over two years ago.

At UFC 239.

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With Blachowicz, back then not only coming off a loss, or facing American Rockhold as a rank outsider, but with plenty more besides the bookies still questioning this fella who seemed tattooed, perhaps forever, to that 2015 run where he lost four of five UFC appearances.

Yet then … thwack.

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Speaking this week from Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, as he prepares to defend his light heavyweight crown against Glover Teixeira at UFC 267 on Sunday, the champ insists claiming Rockhold’s scalp – via devastating that left hook — is the punch on which his life changed.

That, and the moment he truly came to understand his now signature Polish power.

Apart from becoming the first man to beat Israel Adesanya inside the Octagon, Blachowicz has also risen to stardom over the past two years via several highlight reel finishes against the likes of Rockhold, Dom Reyes and Corey Anderson.

It is a power, Blachowicz says, that has been his since birth.

With the 38-year-old revealing his first KO arrived back before he can even now remember.

“When I was a little kid,” he says.

UFC 259: Blachowicz v Adesanya
Camera IconJan Blachowicz celebrates with UFC president Dana White following his title defence at UFC 259. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Credit: Supplied

But as for when the champ truly understood the power that is now his calling card?

“I knew when … ah, that is a good question,” he says early in our interview.

“I think … hmmm … everybody tells me that I have power. Knockout punching power.

“Whenever I train with somebody, they would always tell me after that they never train with such a strong guy like me.

“But still, I have to believe. Have to put that power into the Octagon.

“So I think the moment I change in thinking was when I knock out Luke Rockhold. That’s when I thought, what I do in the gym, I need to do the same in the Octagon.

“So I start doing that and now I’m champion.”

UFC 259: Blachowicz v Adesanya
Camera IconJan Blachowicz lands on Israel Adesanya during their title bout at UFC 259. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Credit: Supplied

Prior to the fight that changed everything, Blachowicz had not only lost to Thiago Santos, but was still so underrated that he opened against Rockhold, the former UFC middleweight champ, a big outsider with bookies.

Rockhold, too, was talking up his chances accordingly.

With the Californian looking ahead, he said, to making his own run at then division superstar Jon Jones, despite having suffered his own recent KO defeats a division down.

“So I was happy because he (Rockhold) is not good person,” Blachowicz recalls of the second round finish. “He’s arsehole.

“And that was really important for me to finish the fight in this way.

“Not with points but in that kind of way.

“A lot of people who train with him, they tell me ‘be careful because he is strong, unbelievably strong’.

“So when we start fighting I think ‘OK, he is strong but I’m also strong. So we will see who will be stronger in the fight’.

“So (that knockout), it was a really important moment for me.”

Pushed on it being the moment he truly understood his Polish power, he continues: “This is a hard question.

“I need to focus and think about my whole career a little bit longer. But the first thing I think when you say that is when I knock out Rockhold.”

Since defeating the former UFC champion, Blachowicz has gone undefeated in another four fights, which includes winning the vacant light heavyweight crown against Reyes and then defending against Adesanya, who also started favourite despite coming up a weight class.

So as for how the champ finishes Teixeira this Sunday?

“I see him knocked out in the second or third round,” he says of Teixeira.

Anything else?

“Left or right, I don’t know yet,” he says. “But I stop him.”

Originally published as UFC 267: Jan Blachowicz reveals KO of ‘arsehole’ Luke Rockhold changed his life

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