Jan Blachowicz plans to silence Aleksandar Rakic with a “clear KO” at UFC 297: “He’s going to have nothing to say”

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz is excited to silence Aleksandar Rakic once and for all.

Blachowicz and Rakic fought in the main event of UFC Vegas 54 in May of 2022 and it was the Pole who won the fight by TKO as Rakic blew out his knee after leg kicks from Blachowicz. Since then, Rakic has been adamant he will get a rematch with Blachowicz and beat him when they do.

Now, in Aleksandar Rakic’s comeback fight, he will be rematching Jan Blachowicz at UFC 297 in January in Toronto. Heading into the matchup, Blachowicz believes he will make this fight much clearer as he’s confident he will KO Rakic.

“I think similar to our first fight but this time I just knock him out. Clear KO, nothing to say, nothing to do anymore. He’s going to have nothing to say after this,” Jan Blachowicz said to MiddleEasy.

If Jan Blachowicz can KO Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 297 in January, it would be a statement-making performance from the Pole. It’s also a pivotal fight for Blachowicz as he believes with a win over Rakic he should get a rematch with Alex Pereira after the two fought to a split decision in July.

“They have to give it to me. Our fight was split decision and I believe the referee (the judges) made a bad decision. They have to give me this rematch. I believe if everything is perfect, my next fight will be against Pereira,” Blachowicz said.

Jan Blachowicz enters his UFC 297 fight against Aleksandar Rakic coming off a split decision loss to Alex Pereira in July. Prior to that, he fought Magomed Ankalaev to a draw in the main event of UFC 282 for the vacant light heavyweight title. Blachowicz won the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 253 as he knocked out Dominick Reyes. He had defended the belt once, beating Israel Adesanya, before losing it by submission to Glover Teixeira.