"I'm not stupid" - Jan Blachowicz answers if he would use wrestling against stand up-heavy Alex Pereira
Jan Blachowicz opened up about his upcoming bout with former middleweight champion Alex Pereira, who will be moving up to 205lbs next Saturday at UFC 291.
During his appearance on Michael Bisping's Believe You Me Podcast, Blachowicz was asked whether he intends to use wrestling against the former two-division Glory Kickboxing champion. He mentioned that it would be wise of him to do so as that's an area he has a clear advantage in.
He said:
"I am stand-up fighter and I like fighting stand-up, so I have to check my stand-up against someone like Pereira. But if I don't feel good, if I take some punches, for sure I'm gonna use wrestling and take him down because also, I'm not stupid. I know what I have to do to win this fight and I use all my tools to do it." [4:03 - 4:26]
The former light heavyweight champion also brought up that he won't be shooting for takedowns immediately. Instead, he mentioned that he wants to keep the fight standing and be more selective as to when he takes 'Poatan' down, saying:
"I will not go for takedown from locker room, you know? I will stand in the middle of the cage and punch with him. And if something goes wrong then I will start wrestling, but not earlier." [4:28 - 4:41]
It will be interesting to see whether Blachowicz sticks with his gameplan or if he begins shooting for takedowns sooner than he anticipated.
Check out the full video:
Jan Blachowicz shares his thoughts on Alex Pereira moving up to light heavyweight
Jan Blachowicz recently shared his thoughts on Alex Pereira moving up to light heavyweight how he expects to see him perform, epspecially considering he won't be cutting a drastic amount of weight like he did when competing at middleweight.
During the aforementioned appearance, the former UFC light heavyweight champion told Michael Bisping that he believes 'Poatan' will still move the way he did when competing at 185lbs. He also mentioned that although he is doing well against larger opponents in sparring, a fight is much different.
He said:
"I think he gonna move similar like in lower division, but he's just gonna feel different timing, different power, because I'm bigger than [Israel] Adesanya, I'm bigger than the guys from lower divisions, so that's gonna be different for him. He could train with bigger guys, but fight is a fight." [5:43 - 6:05]
Dana White believes Alex Pereira will move up to Light Heavyweight next 😳
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