UFC 259: Blachowicz vs Adesanya Fight Preview

Finesse will meet legendary polish power, in an extremely anticipated matchup for the light heavyweight title. Will “The Last Stylebender” Israel Adesanya continue his undefeated UFC run and become double champ? Or will Jan Blachowicz finish another fight in epic fashion?

The electrifying Amanda Nunes also makes her return, defending her women’s featherweight title against the fighter some say is the division’s last hope of defeating her: Megan Anderson. Of course, you can’t forget the bantamweight title fight of the evening! Where Petr Yan will defend his strap against “The Funkmaster” Aljamain Sterling.

There’s so many more tremendous fights scheduled to take place at UFC 259, making this event true must-see TV! Blachowicz vs Adesanya might just be the most explosive matchup, but literally every fight on this card has the makings for an outstanding battle. Check out the full lineup here!

The Road to Blachowicz vs Adesanya

Israel Adesanya (20-0, 9-0 UFC)

Striking and Adesanya are like age-old friends at this point. With a 5-1 pro boxing record, a 75-5 pro kickboxing record, and of course, that gleaming 20-0 professional MMA record; Adesanya has seemingly had eons of fight-time to refine his striking and the art of being: “The Last Stylebender”.

On the road to Blachowicz vs Adesanya, “The Last Stylebender” blazed his way through the middleweight division, although he endured some tough tests along the ride.

The Derek Brunson fight at UFC 230 was Izzy’s first big test. Adesanya would pass with flying colors, as he finished Brunson with a perfectly timed knee as just nine seconds remained in the first round. Brunson was the guy who was supposed to be able to take Izzy down and force the deadly striker to grapple. However, Adesanya kept the fight on his terms and showed that he could indeed defend the takedown.

A Savage War, Then a Flawless Reign

After Brunson, and a more leisurely decision win over Anderson Silva at UFC 234, came the war with Kelvin Gastelum.

Going down at UFC 236 for the interim UFC middleweight championship, it’s safe to say this was the closest fight we’ve ever seen Izzy partake in. An awe-inspiring back and forth affair, with the now famous scene going into the 5th round where Adesanya (looking at Gastelum across the cage) says, “I’m ready to die.”

It was the stuff of movies, and so were his following fights (with the exception of the lack-luster Yoel Romero fight). Winning the real title by knocking out Robert Whittaker at UFC 243, 3:33 into the second round. Adesanya would then beat Romero by decision. Moving on to UFC 253, where he would outclass Paulo Costa and finish him via second-round TKO.

Jan Blachowicz (27-8, 10-5 UFC)

Poland’s first male UFC champion, Blachowicz represents his country well. Carrying devastating power, elite grappling, and supreme toughness, he is the greatest challenge to “The Last Stylebender” so far.

Once 2-3 in his first 5 UFC fights, Blachowicz is now 8-2 out of his last 10. With 5 of those wins by KO/TKO or sub, he has evolved into a complete finishing machine. Really channeling the legendary polish power lately too; Blachowicz’s last two victories over Corey Anderson (UFC on ESPN+ 25) and Dominick Reyes (UFC 253) etched their place firmly into his highlight reel.

Blachowicz vs Adesanya Matchup Breakdown

So will it be Blachowicz’s polish power or the finesse and precision of “The Last Stylebender” that takes the cake? Alternatively, could we see the Blachowicz look to utilize his grappling? Will Adesanya be able to defend the takedowns or get back up off the ground if the fight goes there? Those are some of the questions leading into the Blachowicz vs Adesanya fight, and they represent such an interesting enigma.

At a range, many would give the edge to Adesanya. His feints are ridiculously intricate, his footwork immaculate, and he just has the propensity to pick people apart at a distance that is comparable to Van Gogh and Painting.

Blachowicz has to avoid biting on the feints and allowing for windows to open up that Izzy can slip his pin-point accurate strikes into. Blachowicz has great kicks to utilize at a distance, along with his ridiculous punching power. However, it is his devastating clinch work that could potentially lead to the most success for him. Disengaging from a clinch is where Blachowicz is known to put people into a different dimension, and if you’re Adesanya surely you’d want to be extremely careful in those situations.

In MMA, there are always so many ideas on how a fight will go, but there’s no telling how it will actually play out. So let’s just say Blachowicz vs Adesanya is a true must-see fight. On paper, it appears that Blachowicz’s best hopes are to make this a true MMA match, working the clinch, the takedowns, everything. While “The Last Stylebender” will attempt to do what he does best and work his master-class striking.

Blachowicz vs Adesanya Prediction

Many fans would surely agree that this is a tough fight to call! Every time I pick against Blachowicz, he proves me wrong! However, there’s a first time for everything! So I’m going with Israel Adesanya, by a fourth-round knockout!

What’s your Blachowicz vs Adesanya prediction? Let us know down below in the comment section!

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