UFC Predictions: UFC 267: Jan Blachowicz vs. Glover Teixeira

After a few weeks of largely forgettable Fight Night shows, the UFC is back with a bang this weekend with UFC 267: Jan Blachowicz vs. Glover Teixeira, a huge event from Abu Dhabi.

UFC 267 features two title bouts, as well as a number of the best up-and-coming fighters in the world in action. It should be a must-see show for any UFC fan.

With that in mind, here are the predicted outcomes for UFC 267: Jan Blachowicz vs. Glover Teixeira.

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#1. UFC light heavyweight title: Jan Blachowicz vs. Glover Teixeira

Jan Blachowicz has been on a genuinely tremendous run in recent years

This UFC light heavyweight title bout is both one of the most unlikely title fights in UFC history, but also one of the oldest.

With a combined age of 79, it’s amazing that Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira are even still competing in the UFC, let alone fighting for a world title. Right now, though, it’s hard to deny that they’re the best two 205lbers in the world. So who will come out on top in this massive clash?

Blachowicz has undoubtedly been on one of the best and most surprising runs in recent UFC history. The Polish fighter looked on the verge of being cut from the promotion after losing four of five fights between 2015 and 2017. He then turned it around suddenly with a win over Devin Clark later that year.

From there, he’s lost just once in 10 octagon visits, a knockout loss to Thiago Santos in 2019. He has beaten fighters like Corey Anderson, Dominick Reyes and Jacare Souza on his way to claiming the UFC light heavyweight title, which was vacated by Jon Jones.

His latest win, a unanimous decision over current UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, may have been his most impressive yet. Not only did Blachowicz show off the heavy-handed, sharp boxing skills that took him to the top of the division, but he also demonstrated a much improved ground game too.

Teixeira, meanwhile, looked all but finished a couple of years ago when it appeared that his chin was on the wane. He suffered two bad KO losses to Anthony Johnson and Alexander Gustafsson. He was then ground down by Anderson in a fight that made him look every bit the senior citizen.

Since then, however, he’s gotten back onto the winning track, with his victories over Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos netting him this title shot..

This one is an interesting bout because both men have somewhat similar skills. They largely rely on their heavy hands and boxing skills to take their opponents out. While Teixeira is the more credentialed grappler, both men are more than capable of dishing out damage following a takedown.

However, despite Teixeira’s strong recent run, Blachowicz should probably be favored here for one major reason: his superior speed. Nobody's going to confuse him with a rapid-fire puncher, but he’s surprisingly quick for a big man and his jab in particular can keep a more plodding foe at bay.

Teixeira is a concussive puncher and he’s probably the better finisher of the two, but if he can’t get past Blachowicz’s jab, then he’s going to be in trouble.

Assuming the Polish powerhouse can also avoid the Brazilian’s takedowns, then he should be able to either box his way to a decision or catch Teixeira with something heavy later in the fight and put him away there.

The Pick: Blachowicz via fourth-round TKO

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#2. Interim UFC bantamweight title: Petr Yan vs. Cory Sandhagen

Can Cory Sandhagen find a way to deal with Petr Yan's brutal combinations?

It’s probably fair to say that this UFC title fight hasn’t come without its fair share of controversy.

Sure, the UFC may well be justified in creating an interim bantamweight title given that current champ Aljamain Sterling is on the shelf following neck surgery. But giving Cory Sandhagen a title shot is a little odd.

That’s because ‘The Sandman’ lost his last fight to former UFC bantamweight kingpin T.J. Dillashaw, even though many fans felt he deserved the nod. It's true that Dillashaw is currently out with a knee injury, while another potential contender in Rob Font wasn't able to compete so soon after recovering from COVID-19. With that in mind, options were certainly limited for the promotion.

However, ignoring that, this is a genuinely fantastic bout. Both Sandhagen and Petr Yan are among the best strikers in the 135-pound division. It should be fascinating to see how they look to deal with each other here.

Yan’s biggest strengths are his ability to chain together brutal power-striking combinations, his ability to take shots and his takedown defense.

Every fighter he’s faced, from Sterling to Jose Aldo and Urijah Faber, has struggled to get a handle on his striking style. The fact that he doesn’t tend to slow down as a fight goes longer works in his favour too. Basically, he’s a terminator inside the octagon.

However, Sandhangen is an excellent striker in his own right. He’ll hold a three-inch reach advantage over ‘No Mercy’ in this clash. He is more than capable of keeping an opponent at the end of his longer range strikes, particularly by using his kicks.

‘The Sandman’ is also adept at using low-percentage strikes to put his opponents to sleep, as we saw with his knockouts of Marlon Moraes (spinning back kick) and Frankie Edgar (flying knee).

In fact, the only fighters to have had any success against him at all were Sterling and Dillashaw. Both men used their strong wrestling to find that success.

Does that mean we should expect something special from Sandhagen here? Perhaps. The problem he’s likely to run into, though, is the fact that Yan will probably still be able to walk him down. If Sandhagen does land something big, he may well be able to take it.

This will be a thriller of a fight, but in the end, expect ‘No Mercy’ to come out on the right end of a tight decision.

The Pick: Yan via unanimous decision

#3. UFC 267: The Main Card

Can Islam Makhachev use his dangerous grappling to take out Dan Hooker this weekend?

In the lightweight division, Islam Makhachev faces Dan Hooker. This will undoubtedly be the biggest test of Makhachev’s UFC career thus far. Hooker is a lanky, dangerous striker with a ridiculous chin and tons of heart. He’ll undoubtedly push the Dagestani hard from the off.

However, Makhachev is a special fighter who may well have the best wrestling in the division now his teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov is gone. It’s hard to see Hooker stopping his takedowns and so Makhachev, via decision, is the pick.

In a heavyweight clash, Alexander Volkov faces Marcin Tybura. This should be a tricky fight to call, as both men have excellent skills in all areas and can finish in ruthless fashion. Quite how Tybura can deal with Volkov’s ludicrous 80” reach is another thing, though, so the pick is ‘Drago’ via decision.

In a welterweight bout, uber-prospect Khamzat Chimaev finally returns to take on Li Jingliang. Jingliang is more than capable of pulling an upset here. He’s a sneakily hard-hitting striker with finishing skills and his ground game is excellent too.

Chimaev on the other hand, assuming he’s fit and healthy, has that Dagestani blend of powerful wrestling and heavy hands that seems tricky to stop. This fight could be the one that shows once and for all he’s the real deal. The pick is Chimaev via KO.

Finally, Magomed Ankalaev faces his biggest test in the form of Volkan Oezdemir in a light heavyweight clash. This should be an excellent fight, as Ankalaev might be the best prospect in the division right now, another hard-hitting Dagestani with top-class wrestling.

Oezdemir promises to be his toughest opponent yet, though, as he’s got brutal KO power in his strikes and is incredibly durable, too. However, the fact that he was knocked out violently in his last fight is worrying, as is the fact that he hasn’t faced a wrestler as good as Ankalaev since he fought Daniel Cormier in 2018. Therefore, the pick is Ankalaev via third round TKO.

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#4. UFC 267: The Prelims

Women's strawweight division: Amanda Ribas vs. Virna Jandiroba

Featherweight division: Ricardo Ramos vs. Zubaira Tukhugov

Middleweight division: Albert Duraev vs. Roman Kopylov

Light heavyweight division: Michal Oleksiejczuk vs. Shamil Gamzatov

Featherweight division: Makwan Amirkhani vs. Lerone Murphy

Middleweight division: Hu Yaozong vs. Andre Petroski

Lightweight division: Damir Ismagulov vs. Magomed Mustafaev

Flyweight division: Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Allan Nascimento