The Continuing Saga Of The Light Heavyweight Belt

At UFC 253: Adesanya vs Costa, Poland’s Jan Blachowicz put his devastating “Polish Power” on display against two-time title challenger and betting favorite Dominick Reyes for the recently vacated light heavyweight title.

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After a slow first round, which saw Blachowicz chew at Reyes’ body with brutal kicks, the former Muay Thai world champion snuck in a left hook that appeared to break Reyes’ nose. Now with Reyes on the back foot, Blachowicz pressed forward and started landing devastating strikes to put Reyes away in the second round. Poland had its second UFC champion.

Six months later, former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya moved up to 205 to try and become the UFC’s fifth ever simultaneous two-division champion. Despite an impressive resume at 185 pounds, Adesanya could not keep up with the versatility and strength of Blachowicz.

WATCH: Alex Pereira Is Focused On What’s To Come

Blachowicz cruised his way to a unanimous decision victory after out striking the former champ 184-99, securing three takedowns and amassing over seven minutes of control time. With this win, Blachowicz successfully defended the light heavyweight title, a feat no one in the division has accomplished since.

Entering the bout as a heavy favorite, Blachowicz was looking unstoppable after his two dominant performances against Reyes and Adesanya. In UFC 267’s main event, Blachowicz faced Glover Teixeira, who’d been competing in the UFC since 2012.

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In his 21st UFC fight, Teixeira showcased his most impressive performance to date. Even though Blachowicz found success grappling against Adesanya, Teixeira showed early in the first round that his wrestling was on an entirely different level. Landing a takedown one minute into the fight, Teixeira stayed in top position for the remaining four minutes of the round, raining down ground-and-pound throughout.

Order UFC 295: Procházka vs Pereira

After gaining some respect with his hands early in the second, Teixeira tripped Blachowicz back down to the mat. Rather than staying in one position, Teixeira moved his way to mount, forcing Blachowicz to give up his back. In short time, Teixeira’s arms were coiled around Blachowicz’ neck, forcing him to tap. After nine years of competing in the UFC, Teixeira finally claimed the light heavyweight title, becoming the oldest first-time champion in UFC history at 42 years old.

Fans in Singapore were gifted to a Fight of the Year in UFC 275’s main event between Jiří Procházka and Teixeira. Through four rounds of non-stop action, the fight was playing out exactly how the styles of these two opponents would suggest; a slugfest on the feet with Teixeira taking control once the fight hit the mat.

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While this fight was full of surprises, including Teixeira going blow for blow with one of the division’s hardest hitters, no one could have predicted the final sequence late in the fifth round. With a minute and a half to go, Teixeira was in mount and appeared to be cruising his way to a decision victory. But soon after, Procházka kicked off the cage and reversed positions, ultimately finding his way to Texeira’s neck, where he locked in a rear naked choke with only 30 seconds to go. With so little time left in the fight, Teixeira was forced to tap. The win earned the Czech Republic’s Procházka his first UFC title in only his third fight inside the Octagon.

The vacant light heavyweight title was up for grabs less than a month later at UFC 282 in Las Vegas, where former champion Blachowicz took on Magomed Ankalaev in the main event. The fight itself was very entertaining, with Ankalaev having to battle through heavy leg kicks to crawl his way back in the later rounds. The result, however, left the light heavyweight division in disarray as the bout would be declared a split draw, meaning neither fighter would be crowned champion.

After the light heavyweight division was left without a champion in 2022, the UFC didn’t waste any time finding two new opponents to clash for the vacant belt. The stars looked to be re-aligning for former champion Teixeira. After suffering a gut-wrenching loss in the final seconds against Procházka, Teixeira earned an opportunity to reclaim his title in his home country of Brazil against Jamahal Hill.

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Hill, who was coming off three consecutive knockouts against Johnny Walker, Jimmy Crute and Thiago Santos, showed that his striking was too much for the 43-year-old to handle. Through 25 minutes, Hill out struck Teixeira 248-108, landing 57 percent of his strikes attempted. Hill won the bout decisively on all three judges’ scorecards.