Born: February 24, 1983 (Age: 39) in Cieszyn, Poland
Division: Light Heavyweight
Height: 6’2”
Reach: 78”
Record: 29-9 (12-6 UFC)
Association: WCA Fight Team
Stage of Career: Post-Prime
Summary: Blachowicz is a tough, well-rounded fighter who, thanks to
his great intelligence, managed to improve in his mid to late 30s,
either by minimizing or masking his flaws. He is an excellent
striker and a solid grappler, though the best practitioners in each
area can defeat him on their terms. Among his weapons standing are
powerful crosses—especially the left—from each hand, an excellent
uppercut and strong kicks. In terms of grappling, he has decent
takedowns from the clinch, fantastic top control and effective
submissions, though he lacks ground-and-pound. He can also be taken
down himself and kept there, even succumbing to ground-and-pound or
submissions at times. However, Blachowicz is outstanding at
implementing his gameplan, as he strikes with the better grapplers
and grapples with the better strikers. He is a difficult puzzle to
solve, and only opponents who fight smartly can defeat him.
STRIKING
• Stance: Orthodox.
• Hand Speed: Average.
• Jab: Technically solid and lands with impact, but it lacks
speed.
• Cross: While his right is more than serviceable, the left can be
a game-changer. It is technical, straight, fairly fast and
powerful, as shown in his knockout of
Dominick
Reyes.
• Left Hook: Lacks the proper rotation or arc, but it was accurate
and powerful enough to knock out a chinny
Luke
Rockhold while moving backwards.
• Overhand Right: Clumsy and telegraphed, but it carries some
oomph.
• Uppercuts: Excellent from the left side, he can catch wrestlers
hunting for takedowns with it, as he did against
Patrick
Cummins. A sound punch, he often throws it as a lead.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: Throws punches in bunches,
normally a series of straights.
• Favorite Combination(s): The 1-2, and he can fire it from either
stance since.
• Leg Kicks: Excellent, as they possess technique, impact and
accuracy.
• Body Kicks: Offer similar properties to those he throws to the
legs.
• Head Kicks: Rarely throws them, but they are effective when he
does. They lack some speed and flexibility when compared to his
kicks to the legs and body.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: He excels at this and can chain the kick
to the head or body.
Blachowicz is an accomplished striker and has improved in this
area late in his career—a rare and impressive accomplishment. He is
not flawless, though, and has certain defects that opponents can
exploit. One of his main weapons is the ability to throw technical,
straight, fast and powerful crosses from either hand, making them
difficult to defend. Moreover, Blachowicz throws punches in
bunches, usually one cross after another. His left hook is fair and
his overhand right is clumsy, but he wields an effective uppercut
that works beautifully against wrestlers looking to shoot. His
kicks are also stellar, and he can chain them to his punches. There
are better strikers than Blachowicz in the UFC at 205 pounds, but
not many of them and not by much.
CLINCH
• Physical Strength: A powerful man who has matched great grapplers
in close quarters, including Rockhold, Cummins,
Ronaldo
Souza and even
Corey
Anderson at times.
• Technique: Owns a strong grasp of the fundamentals, though he is
often a little behind and can be caught off-guard by superior
grapplers.
• Knees: Rarely throws them, though they are passable weapons when
he does.
• Elbows: Unleashes more of a forearm shiver than a true elbow, and
he uses it after framing an opponent.
• Defense Against Knees/Elbows: Can certainly be hit with them when
pushed against the cage, as Souza showed.
Blachowicz is strong in the clinch and difficult to take down,
even for elite grapplers, though he does absorb some strikes at
close range. He is not particularly dangerous there himself, often
leading to stalemates. He has occasionally shown a unique forearm
shiver that he utilizes to decent effect.
GRAPPLING
• Wrestling from a Shot: Not his favorite area in which to grapple.
He can counter lazy kicks with takedowns.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: He managed to take down Cummins with a
double-leg lift from the clinch against the cage. Blachowicz did
the same to Anderson in their first meeting.
• Takedown Defense: Inconsistent. The best grapplers can exploit
him in this area. He was taken down at will by Anderson but managed
to deny some of Cummins’ attempts. Meanwhile, Blachowicz completely
neutralized
Devin Clark
but just barely managed to stay upright in clinches with Rockhold
and Souza. He was easily taken down by Krylov’s first shot and
found himself grounded by
Glover
Teixeira later in their fight.
• Ability to Return to Feet: Misses easy opportunities to wall walk
and uses a closed full guard from the bottom. He can use an armbar
attempt to return to an upright position.
• Submissions: Features plenty of threatening weapons from the top,
especially a quick, tight and technical rear-naked choke with which
he has ended many fights.
• Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: Agile off his back
in hunting submissions, but he is also susceptible to
ground-and-pound.
• Top Control: Leans on heavy pressure and cuts off escape attempts
well, making it exceptionally hard for opponents to get back
up.
• Ground-and-Pound: Basic and sometimes fails to get his body into
punches.
Blachowicz’s grappling skills are respectable, but top-shelf
grapplers certainly have the potential to best him there. On the
flipside, Blachowicz can defeat many lesser competitors in that
arena. He has effective takedowns from the clinch and outstanding
top control. His ground-and-pound does not offer much concern for
opponents, but his submissions, especially the rear-naked choke,
are definitely an area of worry for those he faces. His takedown
defense is up to par, but some of the best wrestlers in the sport
have shown it can be punctured and that Blachowicz can be put on
his back. He struggles to return to his feet, and while he is agile
with submissions from his back, he is vulnerable to
ground-and-pound and being submitted himself.
INTANGIBLES
• Athleticism/General Physical Strength: Clearly a powerful man who
does not look athletically deficient, even in his late 30s.
• Cardio: A mixed bag. He has lost due to badly gassing out, as he
did in the Cummins fight, where he was utterly spent at the end of
Round 2. However, he has gotten much better at managing his energy.
Blachowicz has successfully hone five rounds, though it has meant
having to fight at a slower pace.
• Chin: He has shown the ability to absorb punishment, but he can
be hurt and even knocked out, as was the case against
Thiago
Santos.
• Recuperative Powers: Generally recovers well after being
hurt.
• Intelligence: Executes outstanding gameplans to beat more
talented opponents, most notably against
Israel
Adesanya. He has managed to improve in his mid to late 30s as
his natural physical ability waned. A major overachiever relative
to his natural gifts.