UFC Fight Night 167: Jon Jones' next opponent possibly confirmed after incredible 1st round knockout
The timing of the rematch between Corey Anderson and Jan Blachowicz couldn't have been better. It was only a week ago when Jon Jones won a somewhat controversial decision victory against Dominick Reyes.
The Anderson-Blachowicz match was a clear #1 contender's fight, with Anderson on a 4-fight win streak and Blachowicz on a 2-fight streak. He managed to extend that to 3 in a row as he beat Corey Anderson with an emphatic knockout at UFC Rio Rancho.
Since it was right outside his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Champion Jon Jones was unsurprisingly at ringside for the fight. The Polish fighter's last three wins are now against former Champion Luke Rockhold, veteran Jacare Souza, and a rising contender in Corey Anderson.
All it took was a little over three minutes for Blachowicz to pick up the victory. After the fight, he stared across to Jon Jones, who seemed more than welcoming of the challenge. It was said that either Anderson or Blachowicz would have to make a statement and that's exactly what the Polish star did.
As for when they will fight, we can expect them to meet at the midway point of this year. While it's not known what the plans are for UFC 251, that could be an interesting time and place for the two to meet.
Jones' last two contenders Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes, both had a case to possibly win the decision against Jones (with Reyes having an even bigger case to do so), so we have to wait and see what UFC decides to do with the Light Heavyweight division. Either way, a Heavyweight move for Jones may not be on the cards anytime soon as he's got more than one contender on his plate.
Will Jan Blachowicz be able to stand with the Champion?