Jan Blachowicz Says Won’t Be Able to Defend UFC Title Until March

If Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya does come to fruition, it won’t be until March at the earliest.

That’s when Blachowicz told ESPN he’d be ready to make his first title defense. The newly-crowned light heavyweight champion is expecting his first child with his wife in December, and his native Poland is still struggling to combat COVID-19. Blachowicz defeated Dominick Reyes to claim the vacant belt at UFC 253 on Sept. 26, and UFC president Dana White recently revealed that reigning middleweight champ Israel Adesanya will be next to challenge Blachowicz.

"I can fight in March with anybody," Blachowicz said. "It's no problem for me. But I cannot fight any earlier than March. If Israel wants to wait, no problem.

"In Poland right now, the situation is not so good, and we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. Right now we train normally, but nobody knows what our government is preparing for. We'll see what's going to happen later.”

Blachowicz dismissed the notion that he is an easier fight for Adesanya than former champ Jon Jones would have been. Jones vacated the light heavyweight crown earlier this year with designs on moving up to heavyweight. A date for Jones’ debut in the big-man division is currently unknown.

“Why doesn’t Jon Jones want to fight at 205 [pounds] anymore? Because he’s afraid of me. That’s why he moved to heavyweight,” Blachowicz said. “So it’s not gonna be an easy fight for Adesanya, it’s gonna be a harder fight.”