Blachowicz KOs Corey Anderson at UFC Rio Rancho, Wants Jon Jones

Jan Blachowicz defeated Corey Anderson at UFC Rio Rancho and declared himself ready for Jon Jones, and a title attack. Even though he was an underdog before the match, the Polish fighter wrapped up this win very quickly.

Blachowicz (26-8 MMA, 9-5 UFC) knocked out Anderson (13-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) after a bit more than three minutes and posted his seventh win over the past eight fights. This victory settled the score between him and the American, as he avenged the loss from 2015 when Anderson won via unanimous decision at UFC 191..

https://twitter.com/Ta1jaNx/status/1228894900327981056

What was equally important as the result of tonight’s fight, was the fact that Jon Jones sat in the first row, and that immediately following the bout Blachowicz called out the reigning champion.

“I know I am one of the best,” Blachowicz said to Jones, who was near the octagon. ” I am the next contender for a title shot. You promised me, ‘You’re next.’ Let’s do this. Tell me when.”

According to Jones’ answer, it seems that Bones wants to meet the Polish challenger and that he thinks that the UFC will organize the match between him and Blachowicz.

“What better way to make a claim for the title than to get a knockout like that. I got a feeling the UFC’s gonna be giving me a call real soon.”

After defeating Dominick Reyes via decision, the speculations about Jones’ next fight were constantly filling the headlines, and this should put an end to that.

"We gonna do this?"@JanBlachowicz ran right over to Jones after his knockout at #UFCRioRancho (via @UFC) pic.twitter.com/zvNz8rM6fe

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 16, 2020

Regarding the event at Rio Rancho, both fighters entered the contest cautiously, but willing to set their pace and tempo. Anderson couldn’t use his wrestling skills, and he didn’t even get into a position for a takedown.

At one moment, Anderson tried to send a low kick to the rival’s knee, but a counter-puncher like Blachowicz, immediately saw a chance to react, unleashing a ferocious right hand directly to Anderson’s chin. The 30-year old fell to the ground, with the Pole adding one more hammer-punch, before Herb Dean interfered and stopped the fight.

This was the fourth KO loss in career for Anderson, while on the other side, the 16th finish for Blachowicz, who broke the rival’s four-match winning streak.

Meanwhile, the Pole recently lost only to Thiago Santos and is in excellent shape. Unlike Santos, he didn’t get the title shot, but it seems that after this bout, that is about to change.

In other fights of the night, Diego Sanches won against Michel Pereira, who was disqualified due to illegal knee in the third round. We need to add that Pereira dominated the fight up until the moment of his disqualification. He would definitely win this one without any problems according to the scorecards, and potentially finish it before the end.

Knees to the body drop Sanchez followed by an illegal knee resulting in him winning via DQ #UFCRioRancho pic.twitter.com/33vd5duifj

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 16, 2020

Montana De La Rosa beat Mara Romero Borella via unanimous decision. Her husband Mark De La Rosa lost during the prelims against Raulian Pavia. These two entered history as the first married couple to participate in one UFC event.

Brok Weaver posted a win over Kazula Vargas also after a disqualification due to illegal knee. He landed the hit in the rival’s face while on the ground, and the judges stopped the fight immediately.