Jan Blachowicz will be out of action longer than he or anybody else expected. Last Sunday the former UFC light heavyweight champion, alongside his life partner Dorota and their son Jan jr, were guests at the morning TV show “Dzień Dobry TVN” (Good Morning TVN). The Polish fighter answered various questions, with the big one about his injury status.
Good Morning TVN is one of the most popular morning talk shows, which is watched by 294k viewers nationwide in Poland. It’s centered around the actual popular topics and biggest personalities from world of politics, entertainment and sports.
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In November it was announced that Blachowicz was scheduled to fight Alexander Rakic at UFC 297 on January 20 in Toronto. This was supposed to be a rematch of their first encounter, which took place on UFC on ESPN 36. The Polish star was able to stop Rakic with his low kicks, which Rakic absorbed so many that he injured his knee, giving victory to the Błachowicz in the process.
However, back in December Rakic posted on his social media that Błachowicz withdrew from the UFC 297 fight. This came to be true, as the former champion confirmed the information by posting a post-surgery photo with his stitched-up shoulder:
First shoulder operated on. Unfortunately, there was too much work to do with one, so they couldn’t fix both at once. Another surgery soon. I’ll have to wait a little longer to come back.
I wish you all Merry Christmas! pic.twitter.com/RDIIxDSBgm
— Jan Blachowicz (@JanBlachowicz) December 23, 2023
This meant that his return was prolonged. During the Sunday interview, Blachowicz stated, that he will go for the second surgery in March:
Generally, my shoulders need to be replaced, they were supposed to do two at once, but when they opened the left one and saw what a mess it was… The operation was supposed to last 30-40 minutes, but it lasted 3.5 hours. That’s why they only did one and the second one in March.
His life partner and manager, Dorota Jurkowska, added that Blachowicz’s return depends on whether or not March surgery will meet any more complications. According to her, Blachowicz was supposed to make his return during the first half of the year. However, at this moment more realistic prognoses are closing moments of 2024. But still, it all depends on how the March surgery will go.
Interestingly enough it was the second time when Blachowicz had to withdraw due to injury, as their first encounter was planned to take place in March 2022. That time Rakic waited for his opponent to heal and their first encounter ended with his injury. History has repeated itself, but this time the Austrian fighter had no intention of waiting for Blachowicz’s recovery. Instead, he switched his attention to Jiri Prochazka and got his wish granted:
No words needed. It‘s time to work!!!
🚀⏳🏆 #UFC300 pic.twitter.com/28cCsqTZup— Aleksandar Rakic (@rakic_ufc) December 22, 2023
As for Blachowicz, the victory over Rakic granted him a fight for the vacated UFC light heavyweight against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 282. The five-round scrap ended with a split decision draw. Later Jan Blachowicz stated that he was fully convinced that he was leading on points, that’s why he fought in a more secure way, which led to the draw.
At UFC 291 Błachowicz faced Alex Pereira in a UFC light heavyweight title eliminator bout. The Polish fighter lost via lost split decision. Pereira made good on his opportunity, as he knocked out Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295, grabbing the yet again then vacated title.
