UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz reacts to Israel Adesanya's dominant win at UFC 263
Israel Adesanya put on yet another dominant striking display to defend his middleweight title against Marvin Vettori in the main event at UFC 263. In the immediate aftermath of the fight, UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz took to Twitter to congratulate 'Izzy' on his victory.
Balchowicz wrote on Twitter:
"Good fight @stylebender. Congrats!"
Coming off a loss against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259, Israel Adesanya asserted his position at the top of the middleweight division with a dominant victory over Marvin Vettori.
Izzy seemed to have taken a lot away from his outing against Jan Blachowicz, where his poor takedown defense became his undoing. Adesanya showed impressive grappling defense in his rematch against Marvin Vettori and was able to quickly get back on his feet on the few occasions that he was taken down.
After his third successful title defense at middleweight, Israel Adesanya called out former champion Robert Whittaker, whom he had previously defeated in the title unification bout at UFC 243.
Marvin Vettori, meanwhile, failed in his attempt to avenge a three-year-old split-decision loss against Adesanya. In addition, 'The Italian Dream' had his five-fight win streak snapped by 'The Last Stylebender'.
Also Read: UFC 263: Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori 2 full fight card results and video highlights
When Israel Adesanya faced Jan Blachowicz
Having plowed through the middleweight division, Israel Adesanya decided to step up a weight class in order to attain elite champ-champ status. Adesanya went up against light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz in a bid to become the fifth two-division champion in UFC history.
However, the Polish power proved to be too much for Adesanya as Blachowicz thwarted 'The Last Stylebender' in his first successful title defense. Blachowicz turned the tide in the championship rounds, taking Adesanya to the canvas and dishing out punishment, with the Kiwi flattened out on his back.
The result was pretty conclusive, with judges Derek Cleary and Junichiro Kamijo both scoring it 49-45 and judge Sal D’Amato scoring it 49-46 in favor of Blachowicz. With the win, Blachowicz improved his pro record to 28-8, securing the ninth win of his past ten outings.
Also Read: Watch: Israel Adesanya meets Nick and Nate Diaz backstage after UFC 263 win