Tomorrow night in the main event of UFC Vegas 54 we have a massive matchup in the light heavyweight division. Former champion Jan Blachowicz (28-9) returns for the first time since losing his title when he takes on the surging Aleksandar Rakic (14-2).
As mentioned, this is the first time we are seeing Blachowicz since UFC 267. That night, he lost his light heavyweight title against Glover Teixeira. Prior to that loss, Blachowicz had gone an impressive five-fight winning streak to capture the title where he had knockouts over Corey Anderson and Dominick Reyes.
Most impressively was his win over UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. Standing in his way tomorrow night is Aleksandar Rakic. Rakic is going to be looking for his seventh UFC win and the biggest win of his professional career.
The last time we saw Rakic was over a year ago at UFC 259 which was headlined by Blachowicz and Adesanya. That night, Rakic defeated Thiago Santos by decision. In his career inside the octagon, Rakic has only tasted defeat once and it was a razor close and controversial split decision.
UFC Vegas 54 Prediction
This is an interesting matchup and one where I’m not entirely sure what the game plans will be. If the two fighters at UFC Vegas 54 decide to keep things standing for the most part, that part is easy to predict.
You’re going to see Rakic play the range-game and look to stay on the outside. Meanwhile Blachowicz will look to get on the inside and use that legendary Polish Power that won him the UFC title in the first place.
It’ll be interesting to see if Rakic tries to use wrestling at all to limit the threat of Blachowicz’s power. It wouldn’t shock me and I see him going to the takedown some in this fight. Thus far, we really haven’t seen how Rakic handles getting hit.
I think he’s going to get hit in this one. However, will he get hit with a shot that can put him away? That, I’m not entirely sure about. I think we are in for a slower fight where Rakic controls where the fight takes place.
It’s not going to be the most fan-friendly fight, but I think Rakic gets the win here.
Prediction: Aleksandar Rakic by Decision