After a well-strategized win over UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 259, 205-lb kingpin Jan Blachowicz is now looking towards fighting Glover Teixeira. The fight between the two combatants may not be for another six months. The long wait will be due to the birth of his newborn baby boy and to spend some time with his family. This spells not necessarily bad news, but not good. Teixeira has been waiting patiently to face the winner of the Blachowicz-Adesanya fight since riding a five-fight win streak.
HERE'S TO THE UNDERDOGS 🏆 #UFC259 pic.twitter.com/5pvtTOpVXx
— UFC (@ufc) March 7, 2021
Going into his bout as an underdog in his first title defense, an apparently large amount of adversity came into play before he ended up picking apart the incumbent 185-lb champion. As for his break, he sounds adamant about it, per MMAJunkie.com
“(I want a) short break – minimum half-year break,” Blachowicz said. “I want to spend some time with my family. I am a father. My child was just born and I don’t spend any time with him because I have to prepare for my fight. If he wants to wait, (Teixeira) will be my next opponent.”
As for Teixeira, his win streak has been intact since January of 2019, spanning over two years. After being considered finished and unredeemable as a contender for the Light Heavyweight title, he ended up knocking off wins against Karl Roberson, Ion Cutelaba, Nikita Krylov, Anthony Smith, and Thiago Santos. The question isn’t who the favorite is in this matchup, but who the underdog would be when these two knuckle up.