The main event of UFC on ESPN 36 was shaping up to be a memorable battle, until its abrupt and unfortunate ending due to injury.
Aleksandar Rakic and former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz were in a very competitive back-and-forth fight with a potential shot at the division’s title on the line. However, in the third round, Rakic’s knee buckled out of nowhere in the third round, causing an immediate stop to the fight, rewarding Blachowicz (29-9 MMA, 12-6 UFC) with the TKO victory.
According to Rakic (14-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC), the injury is one that occurred a few weeks prior to the fight during training camp, but he still competed. He also believes he won the first two rounds of the fight before the injury resurfaced, and says he would have continued to pull away in the later rounds.
“A great battle took place in the octagon tonight but unfortunately, it ended not the way Jan and I or the fans wanted,” Rakic wrote on Instagram. “The same damn injury from 3 weeks ago in camp showed up again tonight.
“I felt I won both rounds, round one being close but round two was just mine then I opened up really good even in the third before my knee buckled. Knowing the fact that my cardio was off the chart (with a heartbeat at 36 in sleep) I would start to picking him apart from third round on but it is what it is. Congratulation to Jan and I wish him the best. I will take care of this injury and come back like you never seen me before.
This is a unfinished fight between Jan and I and I really hope @ufc gives me a REMATCH.”
Rakic entered Saturday’s contest on a two-fight win streak with back-to-back unanimous decision wins over Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos. Once healthy, he would like the chance to rematch with Blachowicz, who has his eyes set on reclaiming the title he previously held.
Blachowicz, who did not come away from Saturday’s contest unscathed, hopes to face the winner of the upcoming title fight on June 11. The division’s champion, Glover Teixeira, is set to defend the light heavyweight title against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 275.
