Jan Blachowicz admits Glover Teixeira “deserves a title shot”

Jan Blachowicz believes Glover Teixeira has earned a shot at the UFC light heavyweight title.

Blachowicz captured the vacant UFC light heavyweight throne in September, when he knocked out Dominick Reyes. In the wake of that performance, he’s been linked to a superfight with reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

While that champion-versus-champion matchup is already generating massive buzz among fans, many members of the MMA community believe Blachowicz should first defend his title against Teixeira. The 41-year-old Brazilian is now on a fantastic five-fight win streak in the light heavyweight division, composed of victories over Karl Roberson, Ion Cutelaba, Nikita Krylov, Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos—the latter two being recent title challengers.

Blachowicz, for his part, agrees that Teixeira has done enough to warrant a title shot. That being said, he also finds the challenge of toppling the unbeaten Adesanya alluring.

“Both guys have something that I’d like to know,” Blachowicz told MMA Junkie. “Glover is in my weight category, he’s in the same place that I was in before, so also he deserves a title shot, but it’s also good to fight against someone like Israel. To be the first one to beat him. That will also be a pleasure for me, so we’ll see.

“Because he (Adesanya) will remember me for the rest of his life,” Blachowicz added. “When I beat him, he’s gonna have this 20-1, and I’ll always be the first one to beat him so it’s really nice to beat someone the first time in his life.”

Blachowicz was offered a fight with Adesanya in December, but couldn’t accept the matchup as he and his wife are expecting a baby in the same timeframe.

He’s now hoping to fight Adesanya in March, but would also be willing to fight Teixeira instead.

“I said, ‘OK, it’s no problem, I can fight against him, but not in December. I can fight against him in March, him or Glover.’”

Who do you want to see Jan Blachowicz fight next?