UFC 267: Jan Blachowicz vs. Glover Teixeira, Fight Analysis, Prediction

On October 30, One of the best UFC PPVs will take place in Abu Dhabi at Fight Island. The headlining of the event will be a light heavyweight title fight between current champion Jan Blachowicz and former title challenger Glover Teixeira.

Two very experienced fighters will share the octagon at UFC 267; both are very experienced, with many UFC main events (5 round battles).

Jan Blachowicz is the member of the UFC since 2014. His debut was not very successful since he suffered 4 losses in his first 6 appearances, but somehow, Jan managed to earn several victories in a row and became the UFC champion. In his last 10 contests, Jan earned 9 victories. For this moment, he is on 5 winning streaks. He earned KO victories against guys like Luke Rockhold (former middleweight champion), Corey Anderson, Dominick Reyes, and the last battle was against middleweight king, Israel Adesanya who was undefeated before. Still, Jan served him his first-ever loss in his professional MMA career. Blachowicz is known for his huge power, called "Polish power", but he also has a fantastic ground game. Polish power can finish rivals in striking and has impressive ground and pound and submission games. He defeated Nikita Krilov, Ukrainian BJJ champion, via submission Arm-Triangle Choke back in 2018. But from my point of view, his most significant advantage is his fighting IQ.

Glover Teixeira is already 41 years old with a bunch of experience. Just like his rival he is on 5 winning streaks for this moment. Once, he already fought for the UFC light heavyweight title against Jon Jones in 2014 after earning 5 victories in a row in the UFC. However, in the UFC, he suffered losses against Jon Jones, Phil Davis, Anthony Johnson, Alexander Gustafsson, and Corey Anderson. He defeated Ion Cutelaba and Karl Roberson and Thiago Santos via submissions but outstroke Anthony Smith. He has massive bombs in his hand; he broke Anthony's teeth when he landed shots at Anthony Smith. Even at the age of 41, he has good cardio, and he can redistribute his cardio and stamina during 5 rounder battles.

Both are experienced, with the massive ground game and power in their hands. However, I think that Teixeira is eating lots of punches in the striking, and eating punches against a guy like Jan Blachowicz will be fatal. Jan is patient and is waiting for his moments; I think Jan will be better in the striking, and when Glover decides to use his grappling skills, I don't think that it will be very useful against guys like Blachowicz. The Polish fighter is only 3 years younger, but these 3 years mean a lot. He looks sharper and stronger and has the advantage everywhere.

Blachowicz will open this bout as the favorite with the odds around 1.4, but I would not advise you to bet on early stoppage or its opposite. Blachowicz will not go for the finish, he will play smart and earn points from the outside, but any of the punch of Blachowicz can be fatal. If Glover starts losing, he will go for exchanges, and Jan will finish him in the second or 3rd bout, but still, Jan is not the guy looking for finishes during the fights, so it is very risky to bet on it. I think 1.4 is pretty good odds for Jan.