Israel Adesanya and Jan Blachowicz found time to laugh after their UFC 259 main event on Saturday.
In Las Vegas, Blachowicz proved his doubters wrong by defeating Adesanya via unanimous decision. He did so through patient striking, strong clinch work and some really smart wrestling in the championship rounds.
The fight didn’t light the world on fire but that was always a possibility.
In the end, Adesanya just couldn’t overcome the Polish star who rightly still sits atop the light heavyweight division. The scorecards were pretty decisive as Blachowicz won 49-46, 49-45 and 49-45.
The fun side of fighting
But it wasn’t all doom & gloom for ‘The Last Stylebender’.
In addition to knowing he has another belt to defend, he also shared a laugh with Jan after the bout. As the two waited for the scores to be read they exchanged words in an entertaining, if not slightly awkward moment.
Jan thought Izzy was offering him a body guard gig when he complimented his guard ? #UFC259 pic.twitter.com/NRHb2ZWeT5
— UFC (@ufc) March 7, 2021
Blachowicz jokingly asks Adesanya how much he’d pay him to be his bodyguard after misunderstanding the middleweight champion, who was actually just praising his guard work.
It’s always nice to see both competitors joking with each other in the aftermath of a gruelling contest. Just because they go in there and put it all on the line doesn’t mean they immediately hate each other. They are there to do a job but when the dust has settled, there’s usually an overwhelming respect between both fighters.
The conversation has now shifted to what the future holds for both men. Middleweight is calling Adesanya’s name at 185 pounds, whereas Blachowicz seemingly has his next challenger lined up.
That man is none other than Glover Teixeira who was there to witness the fight on Saturday night. The veteran may head into the contest as the underdog, but we’ve come to learn that ruling Glover out is a mistake.
Featured image credit: Getty