UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz says Jon Jones is afraid of him

Reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz believes that he is the reason why Jon Jones decided to move up to heavyweight.

Poland’s Blachowicz became the UFC’s first 205-pound titleholder since 2011 not named Jon Jones or Daniel Cormier after defeating Dominick Reyes for the vacant title at UFC 253 back in September.

The title became vacant because erstwhile champion Jones decided that he was done with the light heavyweight division and is setting up for a move to the heavyweight ranks.

Blachowicz believes that this is a move out of fear.

Speaking to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Blachowicz said that he thinks Jones bolted to the heavyweight division to avoid an inevitable matchup between the two.

“Why Jon Jones don’t want to fight in 205 [pounds] anymore? Because he’s afraid of me. That’s why he moved to heavyweight. This is the reason,” Blachowicz stated.

Had Jones not vacated the title, it was highly likely that Blachowicz was next in line to challenge the former champion.

The 37-year old from Pozan, Poland has been on an impressive tear since 2017, losing just once - to title challenger Thiago Santos - in his last nine bouts.

Since losing to Santos in February of 2019, Blachowicz bounced back by putting together a four-fight winning streak, defeating the likes of former middleweight champ Luke Rockhold, Jacare Souza, and Corey Anderson before knocking out Reyes to claim the title.

Now, Blachowicz is looking towards a champion-versus-champion matchup against reigning UFC middleweight king Israel Adesanya in 2021.

Jan Blachowicz dispels the notion that he's an easier fight for Israel Adesanya than Jon Jones would be.(via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/8o3PnaVH8l

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 4, 2020

Jan Blachowicz says he will send Israel Adesanya back down to middleweight ‘really fast’

The timing of Israel Adesanya’s move to the light heavyweight division to challenge the champion may have struck some people as interesting, given the long-standing war of words between himself and former long-time champion Jon Jones.

Because of this, many think that Adesanya sees current reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz as an easier fight.

While Adesanya himself has not - and likely will not - make a statement such as this, Blachowicz is determined to prove him wrong anyway.

“It’s not easy fight for Adesanya. It’s gonna be harder fight,” Blachowicz told Ariel Helwani.

“If he thinks [I’m an easier fight], he is wrong. I don’t care what he thinks. If they make this fight, I will prove that he is wrong. He will go back to his category really fast,” Blachowicz concluded.

I have heard that Israel Adesanya wants to face me next. No problem, If you are ready to fight in March, let's do this. Prepare for a some fireworks guys 💥👊#LegendaryPolishPower

— Jan Blachowicz (@JanBlachowicz) October 29, 2020