Page 2 - UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa

#2 UFC Light Heavyweight Title: Jan Blachowicz vs. Dominick Reyes

Can Dominick Reyes become the UFC's new Light Heavyweight kingpin?

For the first time since 2011, the UFC Light Heavyweight title will be on the line in a fight that doesn't have the shadow of Jon Jones hanging over it. Sure, Daniel Cormier's title reign from 2015 to 2017 produced some great fights, but the specter of 'Bones' was always in the background.

Now though, Jones has voluntarily vacated his title and seems set on a move up to Heavyweight. And so for the first time in a long time, we'll see a new UFC champion crowned at 205lbs. So will it be Blachowicz or Reyes?

Reyes, of course, fought Jones back in February at UFC 247 for the title and came away on the wrong end of a semi-controversial split decision. 'The Devastator' definitely landed more shots on Jones than anyone had done since Alexander Gustafsson back in 2013. But his failure to have the champion truly hurt – as well as the fact that he slowed down in the later rounds – largely cost him.

Overall though, he's a genuinely fantastic fighter. Standing at 6'4" and possessing a 77" reach, Reyes is a high-level athlete who moves surprisingly quickly for a big man. He's shown finishing ability both on the feet and on the ground, but perhaps his most impressive showing came in 2019 against Volkan Oezdemir.

The former UFC title challenger pushed Reyes harder than he'd ever been pushed. But 'The Devastator' took the Swiss fighter's best shots and outworked him both standing and in the clinch to edge out a decision. It was a hard-hitting fight, and the first time that we'd seen Reyes tested, and he came through with flying colors.

At 26-8, Blachowicz has far more experience than his foe here. Debuting in the UFC back in 2014, it certainly didn't look like we'd see 'The Prince of Cieszyn' in a title fight in his early days.

The Polish fighter was clearly a tremendous striker, as his wins over Ilir Latifi and Igor Pokrajac showed. However, he was also hittable, susceptible to being outworked in the clinch. And his takedown defense was negligible to the point where Alexander Gustafsson, Corey Anderson, and Patrick Cummins comfortably blanketed him for a decision.

However, around late 2017, something changed for Blachowicz. Despite being 34 at the time, he suddenly developed in leaps and bounds in all areas of his game. His wrestling improved markedly, and he gained a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – even submitting Devin Clark and Nikita Krylov in UFC bouts.

And while his striking was always good, he also added a ramrod jab to his game – something he used to great effect in his 2018 win over Jimi Manuwa, who had beaten him back in his second UFC fight in 2015.

The Polish fighter was close to a UFC title shot back in 2019 after winning five in a row, but a knockout loss to Thiago Santos set him back. Since then, though, he's beaten Luke Rockhold, Ronaldo Souza, and Anderson in a rematch to set him up for this fight here.

So can 'The Prince of Cieszyn' win? Despite his improvements, I'm not convinced. Firstly, while the wins over Anderson and Rockhold were impressive, the fight he had with Souza was less so. It was a slow-paced, low output affair that mainly took place in the clinch, and as it's the only time Blachowicz has gone five rounds, it's hard not to worry.

To add to that, the Polish fighter is simply not the fastest fighter at 205lbs, something that largely led to his downfall against Santos. Blachowicz was doing fine in that fight until he simply walked into a quicker, heavier counter from 'Marreta' that knocked him silly.

Blachowicz will surprisingly hold a 1" reach advantage in this fight, something he'll look to use to his benefit – probably by unleashing that ramrod jab. However, he doesn't possess the range that Reyes does, nor does he have the kicking game of 'The Devastator.'

With that all in mind – as well as the fact that Blachowicz has been knocked out before – I'm going with Reyes here. I suspect that Blachowicz will push him hard, but I can see his kicking game and speed advantage proving too much. In my mind, 'The Devastator' walks out on Saturday night as the new UFC Light-Heavyweight champ.