I wouldn't say I'm the biggest UFC guy out there. I'm sure there are many more knowledgeable than I, but I pretty much watch every card, even the prelims and early prelims. So, while I might not be an expert, I'm definitely not just a "casual" either.
Like most fans, I have my guys that I'm a fan of. Petr Yan being one. Super-stoked to see him work his way back to being the champion. He had a string of unfortunate events (the Aljo knee, and a controversial loss to Suga) that forced him to earn his way back to a title shot the hard way.
While "casuals" might disagree, taking on an unknown, lower ranked fighter like Marcus McGee was a really dangerous fight for Yan. But, he made it look relatively easy, although he had nothing to gain and everything to lose against a really good fighter (I think McGee will be a top 5 guy at some point).
Speaking of unfortunate events, nobody that I can recall has had more controversial decisions in the octagon than Jan Blachowicz.
I'd consider myself a Jan fan, but I wouldn't say he is my favorite fighter or anything. His "legendary Polish power" makes for entertaining fights, but I don't feel like this is in anyway a biased post whining about my favorite fighter's unlucky misfortunes.
Jan has fought everybody.
Everyone he fights is an absolute killer. Just go look at his fight history and check out all the people he has fought. He has fought the who's who at 185 and 205 since 2007.
I assume most fighters who have accumulated enough fights have a fight they lost that they feel they should've won (perhaps even vice versa if they're being honest). I'm not a fighter, but I assume the mentality is that it's just part of the game, which is why many fighters adopt the motto, "don't leave it up to the judges."
With that being said, if you look at Jan's last 4 fights, I just can't think of any fighter with a worse string of bad decisions against tougher competition.
The title fight against Ankalaev was ruled a draw after Jan destroyed Ankalaev's leg for 3 rounds, and then Ankalaev laid on him for the last 2 rounds.
He then lost a split decision to champ-champ and #5 pound-for-pound ranked Alex Pereira, in which many people thought Jan won.
Then Jan took a loss to prospect Carlos Ulberg, in a rather uneventful fight. Of the four fights being referenced, this might be the one that Jan didn't necessarily get unlucky, but I don't think anyone would have called it a "robbery" if Jan got a split decision either (Ulberg outlanded Jan 75 to 59, but Jan landed a takedown; close and relatively boring fight by both men).
Finally, at almost 43 years of age, Jan fought another up-and-coming contender Bogdan Guskov, that resulted in a draw. Jan clearly dominated rounds 1 and 3, but 2 judges scored the 2nd round 10-8 for Guskov, declaring it a majority draw.
It is very easy to make an argument that Jan "won" at least 2 of those 4 fights. In my opinion, he really only lost the Ulberg fight. The Ankalaev fight was probably a legitimate draw, and he beat Pereira and Guskov. If this were the case, what would the MMA world's overall view of Jan's legacy be?
Blachowicz would have 5 title defenses, including wins over Adesanya and Pereira.
In terms of title defenses, that would make him 2nd only to the GOAT Jon Jones at light heavyweight. And ironically enough, Jones moved to heavyweight right at the time Jan would've been his next opponent (I remember Jones being cage-side when Jan viciously KO'd Corey Anderson in New Mexico right before Jones moved up.). I think Jones would've beat Jan rather easily with his wrestling. But everyone also thought Rousey would beat Holly Holm. And nobody gave Yan a chance against Merab, either. So who knows.
Maybe the "legendary Polish power" would've cemented Jan's legacy as the LHW GOAT against Jones.
So, I'm going to say it, since nobody else will:
Jan Blachowicz is the 2nd best light heavyweight in the UFC of all-time.
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