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#2 Jan Blachowicz vs Israel Adesanya - UFC 259
Moving up to light heavyweight for the first time in his UFC career, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was in for a rude shock against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259. Choosing to go in with a relatively lean figure, 'The Last Stylebender' conceded a significant size and strength advantage to Blachowicz.
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The Pole fought an extremely smart fight, refusing to be drawn into a kickboxing match with Adesanya and taking him down whenever possible. Crucially, Blachowicz was able to keep Adesanya down - something the other capable wrestlers he has faced, like Marvin Vettori, Rob Wilkinson and Kelvin Gastelum, weren't able to do.
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Adesanya lost his 'O' as Blachowicz successfully defended his title for the first time. He slipped down the pound-for-pound rankings but redeemed himself with an exceptional showing against Marvin Vettori at middleweight.
#1 Anthony Hernandez vs Rodolfo Vieira - UFC 258
This may not have been the most high-profile bout going in, but after Anthony Hernandez submitted Rodolfo Vieira at UFC 258, it was all UFC fans could talk about.
Vieira, a five-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and ADCC gold medalist, started brightly but was soon completely spent. 'The Black Belt Hunter' succumbed to a guillotine choke in the second round despite entering the fight undefeated and as a -470 favorite, leading to the following statement on social media:
"Guys yesterday was the worst day of my life. It was the worst performance of my life, it was my son’s first time watching me, despite being a baby and not understanding anything. That, on the one hand, was even good to not see the beating that his father took and still be finished!"
In an encouraging sign, Vieira entered the win column once again in July, submitting Dustin Stoltzfus and showing great improvement in the striking and cardio departments.
