It’s hard to say which light heavyweight contender will get the next crack at champion Jon Jones, but many fans and pundits believe the opportunity should go to Poland’s Jan Blachowicz.
Although Blachowicz was recently stopped by Thiago Santos, he has since rebounded with a violent knockout of Luke Rockhold, and has long stood out as one of the division’s top dogs.
During an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday, Blachowicz was asked to send a message to Jon Jones.
Dear @jonnybones: beware the Polish Power. pic.twitter.com/9Yzs9zS92F
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 27, 2019
“Jon Jones, if you give me the title shot, you’re going to feel the legendary Polish power,” Blachowicz said. “I promise you, you’re going to get the hardest fight in your life. Thank you.”
It did not take long for Jon Jones to respond to this message from Jan Blachowicz. Speaking on Twitter, the champ joked that he was intimidated by Blachowicz’s remark until the ‘thank you’ at the end.
I almost felt slightly nervous until I heard him say thank you at the end. 😩 https://t.co/EzOXrCTUGr
— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones) August 28, 2019
“I almost felt slightly nervous until I heard him say thank you at the end,” Jones wrote.
Jones also mentioned Blachowicz in a followup Tweet, when a fan asked him if he was ready for the aforementioned ‘legendary Polish power.’
I’m assuming he’s never competed against an inner-city black kid from the US before, that’s no small task either https://t.co/i0u6WBOWNE
— BONY (@JonnyBones) August 28, 2019
“I’m assuming he’s never competed against an inner-city black kid from the US before, that’s no small task either,” Jones wrote.
Prior to his knockout of Luke Rockhold and loss to Thiago Santos, the former KSW champion Jan Blachowicz was on a four-fight streak composed of victories over Devin Clark, Jared Cannonier, Jimi Manuwa and Nikita Krylov. He’s now 24-8 overall, and currently holds the No. 4 spot in the UFC light heavyweight rankings.
Do you think he’s earned a fight with Jon Jones?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/28/2019.