Jan Blachowicz and the Noose That Changed his Career

Jan Blachowicz is now on a killing spree, and the body of Dominick Reyes has now earned him the UFC Light Heavyweight title. Although, Blachowicz wasn’t always this dominant in the UFC. Today, I explain the insane story of how a dead man could have lead to this new version of Jan Blachowicz.

Before we begin, however. I must say: this story does involve suicide. Suicide is a tragic circumstance, and if you, or anyone you know, are having suicidal thoughts: call this number for the suicide hotline. 800-273-8255. Or give it to a friend in need, to potentially save a life.

A Leisurely Hike…

One day, in 2017, Jan Blachowicz was on a leisurely hike through the forest with his two dogs. Little did Jan know, this day would change his life forever.

“It was a normal walk at first.” Jan states, in an interview he did with Polish Media at the exact scene this all took place at. “Then, I see a guy standing there (on the trail), and I think to myself, what’s he doing?“

“I thought: it’s no big deal, he’s just standing there. What was off: was when I called for my dogs, he (the man) didn’t move or flinch… I got closer, thinking, something is f****** wrong here… and saw he was hanging. What was strange, was that he was hanging, but his feet were touching the ground.”

“I checked the man, and I even asked him: ‘dude, you alright?’. I feel kind of stupid for doing that now… he was dead. Now that I found him, I had to alert the police and medical help. When the paramedics arrived, I asked why he was hanging but his feet were touching the ground. The paramedic replied: ‘look at his neck’, and sure enough, it did look stretched a few inches. The paramedic said his ‘cervical vertebrae’s snapped’ and because of that, his neck was stretched.” 

“A cop asked me if I was going to take a piece of the rope with me. I asked him ‘why?’ The cop replied, ‘for luck. When you find a hanged man, you take his rope for luck. At least, that’s what people believed in the old days.’ Sure enough, I did some research online and found out he was telling the truth. Ever since that day, I come here before every fight and touch the rope for good luck. The rope actually has a 90% success rate since I’ve started.”

Jan also says in the interview: “I’ve told the UFC this story many times. They have never used the footage. This is also the second time I’ve had to come here for this interview, as the first time, the audio was for some reason; heavily distorted.” 

What follows is a clip from the first interview. There are sounds in the background, and from my point of view, it almost sounds like a radio signal distorted by heavy rains or wind. To where, basically, all you’re hearing is static, with odd bits of voices in the background… Spooky stuff, indeed.

Jan Blachowicz: A Believer in Superstition, or a Man Blessed by Tragedy?

So, to quickly sum up what happened, Jan Blachowicz was hiking through the woods when he discovered a hanging man. Jan alerted the authorities, and they removed the body. But left the rope. According to the police, the rope of a hung man is good luck in Poland. A fact that Jan looked up online, and says himself: “That it’s a real Polish superstition.”

So in this wild tale, what truth is there? Well, here are the facts. Jan discovers the body in 2017. He starts going to touch the rope for luck before every fight. Pre-rope Jan was 2-4 in the UFC. Post-rope Blachowicz is 8-1, and now a UFC Champion. Not to mention, the first-ever Male Polish champion. Stupid superstition, or life-changing rope? You decide.

Here’s my theory: I believe the rope may or may not be lucky, and whether it is or isn’t, isn’t what matters. In fact, I believe the rope is a “placebo effect” for Jan. Here’s the definition of that phrase: “a beneficial effect produced by a placebo drug or treatment, which cannot be attributed to the properties of the placebo itself, and must therefore be due to the patient’s belief in that treatment.”

Essentially: what I’m saying is this. It doesn’t matter whether the rope “works” or not. What matters is the fact that Jan Blachowicz believes that the rope works. The human mind is a marvelous tool. Many would fail to appreciate what confidence can do for a fighter.

When Jan Blachowicz touches the rope before every fight, I believe this gives him an inner self-confidence, due to the perceived luckiness/placebo that comes with the rope. So much so, that it has actually drastically changed his success in the octagon. What do you guys think? As always, enjoy the fights! Thank you for reading.

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Join the “Overtime Heroics MMA Chat” on Facebook, to share your opinion! Also, a huge shout out to @CameronwMMA for creating the headline for this article! Mine was terrible. As well as giving me a few other gold bits of advice.