Jan Blachowicz celebrates in the octagon following his win over Israel Adesanya at UFC 259.
Jan Blachowicz to defend light heavyweight title vs Glover Teixeira on September 4 at UFC 266
In the second defense of his light heavyweight title, champion Jan Blachowicz will face top contender Glover Teixeira at UFC 266 on September 4. The news of the title fight was first reported by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto citing UFC President Dana White who revealed the bout to him.
This will be Blachowicz’s second title defense of 2021 and his second since becoming champion. At UFC 259 in March, Blachowicz defeated current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya by unanimous decision, stopping Adesanya’s attempt to become a two-weight world champion. Following his win over Adesanya, Dana White made it clear that Glover Teixeira would be the next challenge for Blachowicz.
Back in 2020, Jan Blachowicz captured the title with a knockout victory of Dominick Reyes, after long-time champion Jon Jones vacated the title, as he planned to move up to the heavyweight division. Now with Jones out of the division, Blachowicz has a chance to make his own legacy inside a division that saw either Jones or Daniel Cormier as the only two champions from 2011 until 2020.
Glover Teixeira earned the title shot by putting together a five-fight winning streak with victories coming over the likes of former title challengers Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith, as well as Nikita Krylov, Ion Cutelaba, and Karl Roberson. Teixeira has really shown out in his last two victories over Santos and Smith, respectively, finishing each of them and showing pure dominance during the later stages of those fights.
This will be the second title fight opportunity for Teixeira, with his first coming back at UFC 172 in 2014 when Jones defeated him by unanimous decision. The former title challenger also recently acknowledged that this will be his last chance for UFC gold, citing the length of his career and his age. Meanwhile, Blachowicz will once again look to cement his place as UFC champion when he brings his patented “Polish Power” against a very tough veteran.
As of now, Jan Blachowicz vs Glover Teixeira is the first confirmed fight for UFC 266 on September 4.
