Israel Adesanya Opens As Betting Favorite Against Jan Blachowicz

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will be moving up in weight for his next fight, and hopefully for the fight after that. The former was announced by UFC President Dana White during UFC Vegas 12 on Saturday night at the UFC’s Apex Facility. The latter was a hint that Adesanya dropped when interviewed by Megan Olivi after last weekend’s event which featured the final fight of Anderson Silva’s UFC career.

Israel Adesanya’s next fight will be for the light heavyweight title against champion Jan Blachowicz, per Dana White at the post-fight press conference.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 1, 2020

With the Last Stylebender’s 2021 seemingly mapped out already, the oddsmakers have opened the betting odds for his quest to become the next two-division champion in the UFC.

Adesanya Is the Betting Favorite

According to SportsBetting.ag, the Last Stylebender is a -300 odds on favorite to unseat Blachowicz and become only the fourth fighter in UFC history to hold two belts simultaneously. Meanwhile, Blachowicz is currently listed as a +250 underdog despite winning eight out of his last nine bouts.

Adesanya has never been an underdog in nine UFC bouts, all of which have been victories. The Last StyleBender has finished two out of his last three opponents and he is coming off a dominant second-round TKO of the hard-hitting Paulo Costa. At -300, this is the most expensive price Adesanya’s been pegged at since going -500 against Anderson Silva.

As for Blachowicz, this is the fifth time in his last six bouts where he has been the underdog. The only time he was a favorite during this period was when he fought an under matched Jacare Souza last November 2019. The hard-hitting Polish fighter is 4-1 over that period with his only loss coming at the hands of Thiago Santos in February 2019. Since that loss, Blachowicz has won four straight bouts, including three knockouts which have earned Performance of the Night honors.

Champ Squared

One day before UFC Vegas 12, Adesanya tweeted “Champ Squared” in obvious reference to becoming a two-division UFC champion. He was at the APEX center on Saturday night and when he was interviewed by Megan, he dropped a hint of his next fight by saying “Champ Squared”. Obviously, Adesanya didn’t want to pre-empt Dana White who later announced his next fight anyway.

Fighting Blachowicz is interesting. Adesanya has been beefing with Jon Jones on social media for several months now. And just when you thought he would go for the super fight, Izzy went for Jones’ former belt first. During his interview with Olivi, he talked about baby steps and strategy in the game of war. Obviously, fighting Blachowicz is a baby step and a strategy for Adesanya.

Although he’s fought before at light heavyweight, he’s been a middleweight throughout his UFC career. If he moves up in weight, it would be more difficult to face the GOAT of that division in his first 205-pound bout. Not that Blachowicz is an easy prey either, but you’d take your chances against Jan than Jon. If Adesanya beats Blachowicz, then Jones would be more motivated to fight him because of the belt. And that would marinate the fight even better.

Polish Power

The 37-year old Blachowicz is a former KSW light heavyweight champion and three-time KSW light heavyweight tournament winner. Polish Power has been in the UFC since 2014 and after a rough  2-4 start inside the octagon, he has won eight out of his last nine bouts including five via stoppage. His only loss during that period was a TKO defeat against Thiago Santos.

Blachowicz has won four straight bouts and in his last outing, he defeated the favored Dominick Reyes via second-round TKO at UFC 253 last September 27th. By beating the Devastator, Blachowicz won the UFC light heavyweight title which was vacated by Jon Jones after the latter’s disagreement with UFC President Dana White.

The Polish fighter welcomed Adesanya’s challenge on Twitter and called for a March showdown. That would be the perfect date for Izzy since his master plan includes a super fight against Jones during the 2021  International Fight Week at the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium. Well, that is if Adesanya beats Blachowicz.