Jan Blachowicz says fan told him he won $50,000 for knocking out Luke Rockhold at UFC 239

UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz said a fan told him that he won $50,000 when he knocked out Luke Rockhold at UFC 239.

Blachowicz finds himself in a familiar position next month at UFC 259 when he defends his belt against Israel Adesanya. Despite being the champion, Blachowicz is once again the underdog in this fight. The oddsmakers opened him as a +210 betting underdog in this fight, and it’s up to +220 now. It’s a role the Pole has found himself used to over the course of his UFC career, but especially as of late, being named underdog in four straight bookings now. Even though Blachowicz is the 205lbs champion, he still has his doubters.

A winner of four straight fights, Blachowicz was the underdog in three of those bouts, defeating Rockhold, Corey Anderson, and Dominick Reyes as an underdog, plus picking up a win over Ronaldo Souza as a favorite. Digging deeper into Blachowicz’s UFC career, he also picked up underdog wins against Ilir Latifi, Nikita Krylov, Jimi Manuwa, Devin Clark, and Jared Cannonier. It’s been an absolutely outstanding run for Blachowicz in the UFC, but despite all of his winning ways, he’s a big underdog to Adesanya at UFC 259.

Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Blachowicz explained how he has embraced the role of underdog. The champ told a story about how one fan had won $50,000 on him when he was an underdog against Rockhold at UFC 239. Blachowicz was a +180 that night to beat Rockhold, and at least one fan profited from that KO which made the Pole very pleased. He hopes others make money when he beats Adesanya.

“I’m always the underdog and I always win the fight. It’s really nice. I’m happy. I could be the underdog every time. Maybe after this fight when I win this fight, I believe I will win this fight, maybe after this fight people will start believing in me, respect me and that’s it. But anyway, I don’t care about this,” Blachowicz said.

“A funny story, after I beat Rockhold, I was also an underdog there and one guy after the fight came to me and said, ‘Thank you, my friend, because thanks to you I’m a rich man right now,’ and I said what happened? He said thanks to me he won $50,000. So it’s nice to hear something like that after that. Maybe right after this fight, someone will win big money also.”

Do you think Jan Blachowicz can once again defy the odds and pull off the upset against Israel Adesanya at UFC 259?