UFC Fight Night, or Corey Anderson vs. Jan Blachowicz, is on the menu for this weekend. The clash between the fourth and the fifth fighter in the light heavyweight division comes just one week following Jon Jones’ title defense against Dominick Reyes. Both guys hope that they might be the next challengers of Bones, who is ruthlessly dominating this division.
Preview
Corey Anderson (13-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) comes into this fight after four straight wins. The latest one was against Johnny Walker, whom he defeated via TKO in the first round back at UFC 244. That earned him the Performance of the Night bonus and pointed out the candidature for a possible title-shot contender. Now, this is hardly a title-eliminator, but according to some, if there aren’t some breakthroughs inside the division, it is quite possible to see the winner going against Jones. Anderson is a guy who knows how to pressure the opponent throughout the entire fight and is excellent when defending takedowns. Also, his wrestling skills are superb, but he is not a one-dimensional fighter. One other thing, Anderson can go to the distance without any problems and three wins before the one against Walker all came via unanimous decision – vs. Latifi, Teixeira, and Patrick Cummings.
Błachowicz (25-8 MMA, 8-5 UFC) has six wins over the previous seven UFC events, and his only loss came against Thiago Santos in February 2019. After that, he KOd Luke Rockhold in the second round and defeated Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza via split decision last November. It was a close call, and it did raise some controversy, but we need to say that neither of the fighters deserved to lose that night. Blachowicz started his UFC adventure pretty bad, experiencing several losses and being a punching bag in most of his matches. But, he would make an impressive improvement over time and became one of the elite fighters in his division. Regarding the style of fight, he prefers standup, as any jiu-jitsu master, but isn’t running away from trying to get his opponent on the back. He is one of few guys who managed to take down Anderson but didn’t use that in their previous meeting. A ferocious counter-punch makes him very unpleasant for any opponent.
Previous Fight
Anderson and Blachowicz met at UFC 191. Back then, the American dominated the fight and won via unanimous decision after taking down the Pole over, and over, and over throughout the entire battle. The judges scored this one 30-25, 30-25, 29-26, in his favor, and the result is telling you pretty much everything. Simply, there wasn’t a way for the veteran to escape a defeat.
Predictions
According to all the bookies, including BetXChange, Anderson is a massive favorite here. Odds on his win are at 0.41, and we need to add that it really is the most realistic outcome from this one. Blachowicz showed some signs of struggle against Jacare, who has a similar style of fight and is dominant on the ground. Unlike the previous bouts where he had an advantage over his rivals, that wasn’t the case here. Also, many believe that the Pole’s age is a big factor here. The experts think that his body needs more time to recover and that Blachowicz had too many fights for a 36-year old. Anyway, we are sticking with the above-mentioned scenario, and that is Anderson to win. Check out BetXChange’s other offers too, because you might find something interesting.
