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#4. Jan Blachowicz vs. Ovince Saint Preux
Keeping with the theme of Jan Blachowicz needing to fight in the interim before any future title shot, another solid opponent for him could be Ovince Saint Preux. Given that both men have now been with the UFC for almost a decade, it should hardly come as a surprise that the two were actually booked against each other back in February 2017.
That prospective fight fell apart when Blachowicz withdrew with an injury, allowing Volkan Oezdemir to step in (and ironically, begin a run that took him to a UFC title shot) and in the years that have followed, the fight has not been re-booked. But could it make sense now? Perhaps.
Once considered a genuine title contender, even facing Jon Jones for an ill-conceived interim title in early 2016, Saint Preux is no longer ranked in the top 10 at 205 pounds and is arguably past his prime at this stage.
However, he still carries some level of name value, as he’s headlined numerous UFC shows over the years and has largely faced the best of the best at light heavyweight, including Jones, Glover Teixeira and Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua on two occasions.
Saint Preux’s latest fight saw him outpoint Rua, in fact, and it’s arguable that his performance was the best he’d produced in a number of years. He’d be expected to lose if he were to be matched with Blachowicz, but equally, he could also test the Polish fighter on the ground.
This would be another winnable fight for Blachowicz, but given the name value of ‘OSP’, it might be worth pursuing, particularly as it could easily headline a Fight Night card.
#3. Jan Blachowicz vs. Thiago Santos or Jamahal Hill
Right now, most of the top fighters in the UFC’s light heavyweight division are booked up, meaning that Jan Blachowicz may end up looking at fighting the winner of one of those upcoming big fights. One such fight sees Thiago Santos face the surging Jamahal Hill in August.
Right now, both men are in the top 10, with Santos sitting at No.6 and Hill below him at No.10. It’s safe to say that, coming into the fight, the momentum lies with ‘Sweet Dreams’. Hill recently defeated Johnny Walker in violent fashion to move his UFC record to 4-1-1, while ‘Marreta’ last fought in a losing effort to Magomed Ankalaev.
However, if the Brazilian were to knock off Hill, he’d be right back in the mix for a title shot. More to the point, his 2019 knockout win over Blachowicz probably means that the Polish fighter would love a rematch to attempt to take his revenge anyway.
Hill, meanwhile, would make for a genuinely exciting opponent for the former champion, and the winner of such a bout would almost certainly be guaranteed a crack at the title afterwards.
It’s likely that the winner of this one wouldn’t be ready until the winter of 2022 at the earliest, leaving Blachowicz with a length waiting time, but it’s still a clash that could make sense for him.
