Jan Blachowicz is fighting for the UFC light heavyweight championship, yet he might have been the last important person to find out.
It turns out that, as news broke of Jiri Prochazka withdrawing from UFC 282 and vacating the title because of a shoulder injury, Blachowicz was thousands of feet in the air flying to Las Vegas.
Without WiFi on his plane, Blachowicz (29-9 MMA, 12-6 UFC) found out many hours after the public did that his fight with Magomed Ankalaev (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) went from a co-main event title eliminator to headlining title fight at UFC 282.
“That was the craziest several hours ever,” Blachowicz wrote on Twitter on Thursday. “I left Warsaw to take part in the title eliminator match, and a few hours later I’ve arrived as a title challenger. I’m ready. Keep fingers crossed.
“(Jiri Prochazka) – huge respect for your conduct! Get well!”
That was the craziest several hours ever. I left Warsaw to take part in the eliminator match, and a few hours later I've arrived as a title challenger. I'm ready. Keep fingers crossed.@jiri_bjp – huge respect for your conduct! Get well! #UFC282
— Jan Blachowicz (@JanBlachowicz) November 24, 2022
As a result of the shakeup, Teixeira, who was slated to challenge Prochazka in a rematch, was left without a fight after turning down the opportunity to face Ankalaev for the belt.
Blachowicz is coming off a TKO win over Aleksandar Rakic this past July. Prior to that, he had lost by submission to Brazil’s Glover Teixeira at UFC 267 in October 2021, a defeat that cost him his UFC light heavyweight crown. He’s 6-1 in his past seven bouts.
On the other hand, Ankalaev enters UFC 282 on an impressive nine-fight winning streak. The Dagestan fighter was last seen in action back in July, when he stopped tough veteran Anthony Smith by second-round TKO.
UFC 282 takes place Dec. 10 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with the main card on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN 2/ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 282.
