Jan Blachowicz disappointed with UFC over "special protection" for Alex Pereira: "Why they book Ankalaev with Rakic?"

Jan Blachowicz recently vented his frustration at the UFC for booking Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. Blachowicz took a dig at the promotion for not scheduling his rematch with the Brazilian and accused them of giving special treatment to the reigning champion.

Dana White recently announced that Pereira would make his third light heavyweight title defense against Rountree Jr. The two will headline the UFC 307 card at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, this October.

Before that, the UFC CEO also announced a light heavyweight bout between Magomed Ankalaev and Aleksandar Rakic. The pair will feature on the main card of UFC 308, which will take place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, just three weeks after UFC 307.

Following the official confirmation of the Pereira-Rountree Jr. and Ankalaev-Rakic matchups, many in the MMA world argued that a higher-ranked fighter should have received the title shot instead of 'The War Horse'.

In a recent interview with MiddleEasy, Blachowicz added some perspective to the idea and criticized the UFC for scheduling Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. The former light heavyweight champion stated that 'Poatan' is being shielded by the promotion from both Ankalaev and himself, saying:

''No f***ing idea... what the f***. Why they book Ankalaev with Rakic? Why they don't ask me about this?...I feel like [there is] special protection for Pereira... maybe [the UFC] doesn't want to make [our rematch] because they know that this time he's gonna lose 100%. Maybe also that's why they don't want to give Ankalaev to him...Maybe they want to make another nice win for [Pereira]."

Check out Jan Blachowicz's comments below:

As for Blachowicz, the Polish fighter was set to face Rakic in a rematch at UFC 297, however, a shoulder injury while training forced him to withdraw from the bout.

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Jan Blachowicz believes Khalil Rountree isn't deserving of the title shot

Jan Blachowicz has not competed since his split decision loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 291. Since then, Blachowicz has been asking for a rematch with Pereira, however, it appears that the UFC has other plans, as 'Poatan' has been scheduled to face Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307.

Following the announcement, Blachowicz took to social media and poked fun at Rountree Jr., citing that there are more deserving contenders for the belt than the 34-year-old. He wrote on X:

''With all due respect to Khalil but there are at least two higher ranked contenders who are ready to fight Poatan. He doesn’t need special protection.''