Jan Blachowicz doesn’t think Israel Adesanya should return to light heavyweight after his UFC 305 loss to Dricus Du Plessis.
Adesanya suffered a fourth-round submission loss to Du Plessis earlier this month in Perth, a setback which marked his second-straight loss. After the defeat, the future of Adesanya was up in the air, but Izzy has said he has no plans to retire. With that, many believe ‘The Last Stylebender’ should consider a return to light heavyweight, given that he has now lost to the current champion and No. 1 contender at middleweight.
However, Jan Blachowicz, who fought and defeated Israel Adesanya at light heavyweight, doesn’t think a move to 205lbs makes sense for the former middleweight king.
“I think he should stay at 185 and do something, but we’ll see what’s going to be his decision,” Blachowicz said to MiddleEasy. “I’m not in his head. I don’t know what he’s going to do right now. We’ll see. Maybe he’ll move to 205, but I don’t think so. It’s going to be much harder for him than at 185.”
Adesanya did fight Blachowicz at 205lbs for the light heavyweight title in 2021 and it was the Pole who won by unanimous decision. Blachowicz was able to use his size and control Adesanya to get the win, which perhaps is why the Pole doesn’t think ‘The Last Stylebender’ should move up to light heavyweight.
However, Jan Blachowicz knows Israel Adesanya is still an elite fighter and says he even thought Adesanya was going to beat Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305. The fight was very competitive until Du Plessis got the submission win in the fourth round to defend his belt for the first time.
Blachowicz, meanwhile, does not have his next fight booked and hasn’t fought since July of 2023 when he dropped a split decision to Alex Pereira. Since then, he had double shoulder surgery which has kept him out of action for over a year.
