Blachowicz flattens Anderson, calls out Jones

UFC Fight Night 167 in Albuquerque, New Mexico was headlined by an emphatic victory for Jan Blachowicz in the main event, as well as two unfortunate disqualifications for illegal knee strikes by Michel Pereira and Kazula Vargas.

Blachowicz needed just over three minutes of the first round to flatten Corey Anderson in a Light Heavyweight bout, avenging a loss from September 2015. The ‘Prince of Cieszyn’ turned out Anderson’s light with a titanic right hand.

Blachowicz is the form challenger of the division (three straight wins, seven victories from his last eight outings) and this definitive triumph came in front of current UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones. A clash between the two now seems the inevitable next step, with Blachowicz calling out ‘Bones’ in his post-fight interview.

“I’m happy to see Corey Anderson eat his words,” Jones said in response, and rubbing salt into the wounds of the defeated fighter, who had targeted the champion in the past year. “He’s been talking so much trash. And then to go out there and perform the way he did. I could definitely see the UFC matching us [Blachowicz and Jones] up next.”

Blachowicz stated: “I believe I’m the next contender for the title shot, and I don’t want a different fight. Only title shot. I will wait. I have a lot of things to do, so I will not be boring, I can wait. … I do this all my life, and I wait for this so long. I am ready. I proved that I deserve the title shot, and I will do this, and I will take the belt to Poland.”

The co-main event of the evening saw a second disqualification for an illegal knee strike, with Michel Pereira dominating Diego Sanchez before he kneed his downed opponent to the head, drawing an immediate stoppage. Kazula Vargas was guilty of a similar offence in an earlier Lightweight fight which went the way of Brok Weaver via DQ.

Arguably the best fight on the card came from Women’s Flyweight contenders Montana De La Rosa and Mara Romero Borella, with their match going the full distance of three rounds. De La Rosa used a superior grappling game to overwhelm her opponent and earn a unanimous decision. She will now be high on a shortlist of potential challengers to flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.

The next UFC event is Fight Night 168 from the Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand which will be headlined by a Lightweight clash between Paul Felder and Dan Hooker.

Main card results

- Light Heavyweight: Jan Blachowicz def. Corey Anderson – KO, Round 1, 3:08

- Welterweight: Diego Sanchez def. Michel Pereira – Disqualified, Round 3, 3:09

- Women’s Flyweight: Montana De La Rosa def. Mara Romero Borella – Unanimous decision, Round 3, 5:00

- Lightweight: Brok Weaver def. Kazula Vargas – Disqualified, Round 1, 4:02

- Catchweight (128lbs): Ray Borg def. Rogerio Bontorin – Unanimous decision, Round 3, 5:00

- Lightweight: Lando Vannata def. Yancy Medeiros – Unanimous decision, Round 3, 5:00