LAS VEGAS — Israel Adesanya, who headlines UFC 259 vs. Jan Blachowicz on Saturday, has become one of the most talked-about fighters in the world. “The Last Style Bender” says he is comfortable with the idea that he could one day transcend MMA, like a Conor McGregor or a Ronda Rousey.
“It’s inevitable,” Adesanya said. “I just have to get used to it. I just have to accept it and not hide from the role that I’m in, not hide from the platform that I’m on. Because a lot of people get to this spot and they start to get like, ‘I’ve been here’ and it’s like s—. What did Kanye West say? ‘Y’all can have it back.’ … I just run with it.”
It might be hard to hold him back if he accomplishes this next feat: becoming only the fifth fighter to hold UFC titles in two different divisions simultaneously.
Adesanya, the UFC middleweight champion, will challenge Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title at the UFC Apex. Adesanya has never lost an MMA fight, and now he could add another gold belt to his collection.
Blachowicz, though, is no easy out. He’ll have a significant size advantage. Blachowicz told ESPN this week that he would weigh 220 pounds on fight day. He weighed 205 pounds, right at the title-fight light heavyweight limit, at weigh-ins Friday. Adesanya weighed only 200.5 pounds and doesn’t figure to weigh much more than that in the Octagon on Saturday night. Blachowicz (27-8) has won four in a row, including three of those by KO/TKO. The 38-year-old Polish fighter won the vacant UFC light heavyweight title by beating Dominick Reyes by second-round TKO at UFC 253 last September.
Adesanya (20-0), a former champion kickboxer, has won his first nine fights in the UFC. The Nigeria-born New Zealand resident is coming off a second-round TKO over Paulo Costa at UFC 253. The flashy Adesanya, 31, has 15 knockouts in 20 career wins and has been UFC middleweight champion since October 2019.
In the co-main event, the greatest women’s MMA fighter of all time, Amanda Nunes, looks to defend her featherweight title against 6-foot powerhouse Megan Anderson. Nunes (20-4) is also the UFC women’s bantamweight champion and owns just about every prominent UFC women’s record there is. Anderson (11-4) has won two straight and has one-punch knockout power. Also on the card, Petr Yan attempts to make his first successful defense of the UFC bantamweight title against Aljamain Sterling.
On the undercard, Thiago Santos and Aleksandar Rakic meet in a critical light heavyweight contender bout, former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz returns against up-and-coming Casey Kenney, and Khabib Nurmagomedov training partner Islam Makhachev takes on Drew Dober.
Marc Raimondi, Brett Okamoto and Jeff Wagenheim recap the action as it happens in Las Vegas.
How to watch and purchase UFC 259
Fight in progress:
Welterweight: Sean Brady (13-0, 3-0 UFC, -210) vs. Jake Matthews (17-4, 10-4 UFC, +175)
Results:
Strawweight: Amanda Lemos (9-1-1, 3-1 UFC) defeats Livinha Souza (14-3, 3-2 UFC)
Recap to come.
Lightweight: Uroš Medić (7-0, 1-0 UFC) defeats Aalon Cruz (8-4, 0-2 UFC) by first-round TKO
Medic has been saying he’s UFC-ready for a while. He proved it big time in his promotional debut.
Medic devastated Cruz with strikes on the feet, en route to a first-round TKO finish. Medic hurt Cruz almost immediately, and referee Mark Smith gave Cruz every opportunity to continue — perhaps too many — before finally calling the bout at the 1:40 mark.
This guys a monster !!!
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) March 6, 2021
Medic, who fights out of Alaska but was born in Serbia, badly hurt Cruz with a left hook to the temple and followed that with a flying knee that Cruz ate flush. Cruz basically dropped to the ground, covered up and held onto Medic’s leg. Medic hit him with a long series of unanswered punches, and dropped him again with a left hand after Cruz somehow managed to stand up. The end was never in question.
A former contestant on Dana White’s Contender Series, Medic has finished all of his professional bouts, including six in the first round. Cruz, who was also on DWCS and is from Tampa, drops to 0-2 in the UFC with two first-round losses by knockout.
— Okamoto
Men’s bantamweight: Trevin Jones (13-6 1 NC, 1-0 1 NC UFC) defeats Mario Bautista (8-2, 2-1 UFC) by second-round TKO
Jones finally has his first UFC victory — officially.
He actually won his promotional debut last August, knocking out Timur Valiev, but the result was overturned to a no-contest after Jones tested positive for marijuana. He had taken the fight on two days notice.
Five-star finish by @TrevinAJones 🤩
Stream #UFC259 on ESPN+ ➡️ https://t.co/pOphkmMf0r pic.twitter.com/O24b4O9Qh2
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 6, 2021
Now the 30-year-old native of New Orleans, who grew up in and still trains in Guam, has another knockout. This one came 40 seconds into the second round, when he caught Bautista coming in with a lead right uppercut, dropping him. Jones is unbeaten in his past four fights.
Bautista, a 27-year-old fighting out of the MMA Lab in Glendale, Arizona, saw a two-fight winning streak come to an end.
— Wagenheim
Still to come:
Light heavyweight title bout: Jan Blachowicz (c) (27-8, 10-5 UFC, +200) vs. Israel Adesanya (20-0, 9-0 UFC, -240)
Women’s featherweight title bout: Amanda Nunes (c) (20-4, 13-1 UFC, -1100) vs. Megan Anderson (11-4, 3-2 UFC, +700)
Men’s bantamweight title bout: Petr Yan (c) (15-1, 7-0 UFC, -120) vs. Aljamain Sterling (19-3, 11-3 UFC, +100)
Lightweight: Islam Makhachev (18-1, 7-1 UFC, -380) vs. Drew Dober (23-9 1 NC, 9-5 1 NC UFC, +300)
Light heavyweight: Aleksandar Rakić (13-2, 5-1 UFC, -160) vs. Thiago Santos (21-8, 13-7 UFC, +135)
Men’s bantamweight: Dominick Cruz (22-3, 5-2 UFC, +115) vs. Casey Kenney (16-2-1,5-1 UFC, -135)
Men’s bantamweight: Song Yadong (16-4-1, 5-0-1 UFC, -160) vs. Kyler Phillips (8-1, 2-0 UFC, +135)
Men’s flyweight: Joseph Benavidez (28-7, 15-5 UFC, +105) vs. Askar Askarov (12-0-1, 2-0-1 UFC, -125)
Men’s flyweight: Rogério Bontorin (16-2, 2-1 UFC, +115) vs. Kai Kara-France (21-9, 4-2 UFC, -135)
Men’s flyweight: Tim Elliott (17-11-1, 5-9 UFC, +100) vs. Jordan Espinosa (15-8, 2-3 UFC, -120)
Light heavyweight: Kennedy Nzechukwu (7-1, 1-1 UFC, +200) vs. Carlos Ulberg (5-0, 0-0 UFC, -250)
(c) = defending champion