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Aleksandar Rakic believes Jan Blachowicz will successfully defend his belt when he takes on Glover Teixeira at UFC 267.
Rakic, who last fought Thiago Santos in March this year, said he respects Teixeira but doesn't see the Brazilian winning because Blachowciz is in his prime. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Rakic gave his prediction for the UFC 267 main event.
"I think Jan Blachowicz will be the champion and still. I respect Glover. He has the experience, he has an iron chin, his grappling is good, his boxing is good, but Jan had an amazing last fight with Israel (Adesanya) and we fought on the same card. He improved as well as the champion. He has grown, so I think he is in his prime. I think Jan is gonna win for sure," said Aleksandar Rakic.
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Rakic is picking Blachowicz to win, not just from a technical standpoint. The fact the UFC light heavyweight champion hails from Europe also influenced the Austrian's prediction. The 29-year-old said he wants Blachowicz to defend his belt because that would give the sport of MMA a boost on the European continent.
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"I'm always with the European fighters. I'm always with them because MMA in Europe is not so big like in the U.S. So, I'm always rooting for the European fighters and we're now three Europeans in the top five, so it's big for European MMA. Of course, I would love to fight him and take the belt from him because he is a great champion, he made good fights."
Watch Aleksandar Rakic's appearance on The MMA Hour below:
Aleksandar Rakic is willing to give Anthony Smith his rematch
Aleksandar Rakic also doubled down on his intention to fight Anthony Smith in a rematch. When Ariel Helwani asked 'Rocket' if he would be open to challenging Smith in December, he responded:
"Santa is coming".
Rakic noted that although Smith is ranked below him in the division, he wouldn't mind fighting 'Lionheart' because he doesn't like staying on the sidelines.
Aleksandar Rakic and Anthony Smith fought each other last August. Thanks to the Austrian's superior wrestling, he defeated Smith via a unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27).
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