Blachowicz to Defend Light Heavyweight Title Against Teixeira at UFC 266

UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz will defend his belt against no. 1 ranked contender Glover Teixeira at UFC 266 on September 4th.

The news was revealed by no less than UFC President Dana White via ESPN on Wednesday. UFC 266 still has no location and no other fights for the event have been announced.

This marks the second title defense for Blachowicz who fought middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in his first title defense. The top-ranked Teixeira wanted the title shot so badly that he agreed to be the backup fighter for that bout in case one of Blachowicz and Adesanya didn’t make it to fight night.

Pleading His Case

For Teixeira, he is finally getting the title shot long overdue him. The 41-year old pleaded his case to UFC president Dana White after stopping Thiago Santos last November. That victory was the fifth straight for the Brazilian since his last loss to Corey Anderson in 2018.

“Dana White, come on man… Give me that title shot.”

“Old man” @gloverteixeira pleads his case to get the next crack at light heavyweight gold 🏆 pic.twitter.com/e43BS84rbi

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 8, 2020

During this current five-fight winning streak, Texeira has four stoppage wins and victories over fellow former title challengers Anthony Smith and Santos in consecutive bouts. The nearly 20-year veteran owns notable wins over Quinton Jackson, Ryan Bader, Ovince Saint Preux, Rashad Evans, and Jared Cannonier.

This marks the second title shot for the Brazilian who lost via unanimous decision to Jon Jones at UFC 172. Including the Jones loss, Teixeira went 5-5 in 10 bouts but has since won five in a row to improve his overall record to 32-7 with 18 knockouts and 9 submission victories.

Teixeira was linked to be his first title challenger but with Adesanya attempting to make history, the UFC opted for the super fight over the rightful challenger. Now they are just making things right by booking this fight.

Taking Away Izzy’s “0”

Blachowicz meanwhile is coming off a win over UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 259. Adesanya moved up in weight to challenge Blachowicz but not only did the Polish Power end his ambition to become champ-champ, but Blachowicz also took away Izzy’s undefeated record, doing so in dominant fashion.

THE LEGEND GROWS!

🏆🇵🇱 @JanBlachowicz defends his LHW strap. #UFC259 pic.twitter.com/2CdNbJYzAn

— UFC (@ufc) March 7, 2021

The 38-year old Blachowicz is a former KSW light heavyweight champion and the second Polish champion in the UFC. Blachowicz was believed to be Jon Jones’ next title challenger when Bones relinquished the title and went to a hiatus. The Polish fighter then won the vacant UFC light heavyweight title by stopping Dominick Reyes at UFC 253.

Blachowicz has also won five straight bouts and is 9-1 in his last 10 bouts with wins over Luke Rockhold and Corey Anderson during that span. The Polish Power has a record of 28-8 with 8 knockouts and 9 wins via submission.

After his win over Adesanya, Blachowicz acknowledged that Teixeira deserves the next title shot but he will have to wait because he is going to take a long vacation with his family. That wait will end this fall.