UFC 282 Blachowicz vs Ankalaev preview

 UFC 282 Preview:                                   Blachowicz vs. Ankalaev

By Michael Jones - @keepingitrealmma

& Dave Manley - @mmabobblehead

Time Waits For No Man:                                                                                                  'Don't expect any sympathy from us.                                                                                     If you need extra time to game-plan,                                                                                       well that's just too damn bad.                                                                                                The show must go on Mr. Glover'                                                                                   

            1. Jan Blcahowicz (29-9) vs. Magomed Ankalaev (18-1)

                

               We often complain about the steady diet of immediate title-fight rematches fed to us by the UFC, but in this case, we were more than willing to consume 25 more minutes of Glover Teixeira vs. Jiri Prochàtzka. That fight was a spectacular display of technique vs. chaos. Yet another, another... (needle falls off the broken record), another injury takes the main event from our greedy little hands. As is standard protocol, the co-main event must be promoted to feature a belt, to give this PPV the extra shine necessary to grace promotional posters littered across dive bars everywhere. Now 39-year-old Jan Blachowicz gets a shot at title redemption when he faces the grinding freight train that is Magomed Ankalaev. With 9 wins in a row, many MMA pundits have tapped Magomed as the next champ, asking not if, but when he will get to take his seat on the Light Heavyweight throne.

              The fault of our assumption is that we thought the same thing when Jan faced Dominick Reyes. Fresh off a controversial split decision loss to then-Champion Jon Jones, Dominick came right back to face Jan for the vacant title upon Jones' departure from the division. We assumed the title was his for the taking and only wondered how he would get it done. The first round of their fight was mostly competitive, then came round 2. About four minutes in, Dominick decides to throw caution to the wind, throwing everything he has in wild exchanges, just to eat a legendary left hand that wobbles him and leads to his finish. To be clear, Magomed is not that hasty and will take a much more measured approach, but it will be very interesting to see what happens if he gets too comfortable in an exchange and tastes just that polish power. At this weight and with Jan's veteran calm, one well-placed straight punch is all it takes to change the momentum and possibly the outcome. Then we will once again eat our words and pretend to never underestimate Jan again... or Magomed goes out there and grinds out another workman-like decision win (heavy sigh). 

               Hardcore History: let's take a look at the A-side first. Another wrestler from Dagestan, repping an epic beard and well-versed in Combat Sambo. When the majority of MMA fans hear the term 'Dagestani Fighter', they think of a sub-160 lb. dynamo hailing from the rural mountains of the Tsumadinsky District. Not this guy, he stands 6'3", weighs about 220 lbs. and comes from the extremely diverse Makhachkala. The capital city as well as the largest Dagestan city, Makhachkala hosts about 1 million residents and is booming in education, construction, and trade. Magomed earned a degree in sports faculty at Dagestan State University before turning his Greco-Roman wrestling background into a career in MMA. That is where the warm and fuzzy part ends if you can call it that. The harsh reality lies in his relationship with Chechen Warlord Ramzan Kadyrov. One of way-too-many fighters associated with the violent dictator, Magomed often trains with his team and has competed in his mixed martial arts promotion, Absolute Championship Akhmat. The U.S. Treasury currently has sanctions against any U.S. citizen who associates themselves with Ramzan or his affiliates. 

             Jan Blachowicz is a former UFC champion, the first fighter to defeat Israel Adesanya in the UFC, and has almost twice as many UFC fights as his opponent. Yet he is most likely the B-side to this confrontation. That isn't an indictment of his accomplishments, it's more of an illustration of the hype behind Magomed. Playing the underdog role isn't anything new to Jan, who has been fighting in MMA since 2007. According to tapology.com he has been the favorite only twice in his last 12 fights but won 10 of them. He credits most of his success to Robert Jocz, the head coach of the WCA Fight Team. Since rejoining his original team in 2017, he has made a return to form, honing in on the skills that got him to the UFC in the first place. It's interesting to note that the Warsaw-based fight team is located only 4 hours from his hometown in Cieszyn, Poland. I think it's safe to say, unlike many of his UFC counterparts, he thrives where he is most comfortable. 

         2. Darren Till (18-4-1) vs. Dricus Du Plessis (17-2)

                

            With 5 wins in three years of work, Darren Till was riding as much hype as any UFC star has ever realized, save for Conor Mac. All that momentum, just to see him flop in his first title fight. With superior speed and grappling, Tyron Woodley dominated him, it wasn't pretty. Including that loss, he's gone 1-5, with the lone win being a very close split decision over Kelvin Gastelum. He's seen 2 potential matchups canceled and 2 fights rescheduled in 2 years, citing injuries to his collarbone, knee, and eye. I'm not completely sure what happened in that September 2018 title loss, but he hasn't been the same since. His opponent Dricus Du Plessis is riding a streak similar to that of Till's early UFC run, with 13 wins in his last 14 bouts and the last 3 coming in the UFC. He's also run into a slew of cancellations and his fighting style is reminiscent of Till's early days, walking forward with reckless abandon and no fear of his opponent's weapons. This could be seen on full display in his July war with Brad Tavares where he might have edged out the decision based solely on output. 

            It will be interesting to see if he employs a similar game plan against Till, in the past that strategy would have spelled disaster, but as it stands Till's chin is very much in question. To give his game a fresh look, Till has recently been training with Khamzat Chimaev, there is a worthy-of-watching video series documenting their training and ensuing friendship. This will be his first fight since befriending the polarizing catchweight contender. That being said, he is still registered as a top fighter training with Team Kaobon in his native Liverpool. As for Du Plessis, he still trains with his original squad, Team CIT out of Pretoria, South Africa. Amid writing this, I've found that Du Plessis has also spent much of his career as a welterweight, moving up and down multiple times. These guys are basically clones, the slight difference being Till's Muay Thai background versus Du Plessis's championship pedigree in Kick Boxing, even then both styles lean heavily on kicking. This fight could be a must-win for Till, will be contested on the feet, and most likely will not go the distance. With the stakes so high and a straight kickboxing match incoming, imagine something similar to Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira. 

            Hardcore History: Summarizing Darren Till's trials and tribulations is no easy task. The Englishman began fighting around age 14, then dropped out of high school and eventually was kicked out of his house. At 19 years young he was stabbed twice in a nightclub scuffle. After that unfathomable experience, he needed to make a huge change. On advice from a coach, he moved to Santa Catarina, Brazil to center his focus on MMA training. While in Brazil, he and his girlfriend welcomed a baby girl into the world. After spending 3 years in Brazil he moved back to Liverpool, England and rejoined Team Kaobon. In 2017 he signed with MTK Global, a boxing-focused gym that in the same year cut ties with founder Daniel Kinahan, a U.S.-sanctioned criminal reportedly tied to the Irish Mafia. With so many fighters and organizations struggling to avoid bad company, or just straight-up welcoming it, it's a bit shocking that companies like ESPN and parent company Disney see no problem promoting the sport.

            Born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1994, Dricus Du Plessis has lived a slightly different life. He started training Judo around age 14 and to this day lives and trains out of his hometown. He studied Agricultural Economics in college before moving his entire focus to MMA training. He went Pro around age 19 and had his first 12 fights with local South African promotion Extreme Fighting Championship. He has a very close relationship with his family, most notably with his older brother and training partner Neil Du Plessis. Some similarities between him and Till are their confidence, boastfulness, and willingness to leave it all in the cage. In this fight, we may see which parts of their personality and experience shine or clash. 

               

         3. Chris Curtis (29-9) vs. Joaquin Buckley (15-5)

            Chris Curtis may seem like a recent discovery, but the man is 35 and has been fighting professionally since 2009. He fought regionally for 9 years though, hence why he's been under the radar. The biggest name he fought during that run was Belal Muhammed, a current top 5 UFC welterweight. He lost that by unanimous decision due to inferior grappling and threw a fit after. He even swatted the ref, it was rather embarrassing. It wouldn't be his last tantrum following a big loss. Fortunately, he rebounded with 11 wins in his next 12 fights. It wasn't until last year that he finally made his UFC debut at the legendary Maddison Square Garden, coming in on short notice and scoring a come-from-behind knockout over Phil Hawes. It started with a solid left hook that Phil never saw coming and ended with a delayed collapse before the ref stepped in to waive it off with just 30 seconds left in the round. If you're gonna take an entire decade-plus to arrive, that's how you do it. 

            He's now 3-1 in the UFC and looking to get back on the horse after losing in a short-notice fight against Jack Hermansson, another occasion where he blew up and cursed his opponent. He will try to once again bury the past with a win over heavy-hitting Joaquin Buckley. They're both coming off a loss against top-15 opponents and will attempt to use each other as a springboard to relevancy. As far as relevancy goes, Buckley hasn't been hiding in the regional trenches, he's been competing in elite promotions since 2016. Not without his own hurdles and stumbles, he went 3-2 in Bellator with his last fight being a decision loss to elite grappler Logan Storley. It's not super clear who will have a grappling advantage here, but we likely won't see it. Buckley has scored at least 9 stoppages and has been stopped 3 times on the feet, guy likes to bang bro. He should rein it in though if he wants to come away with the win over a very game striker in Chris Curtis. 

            Hardcore History: Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1994, Joaquin Buckley also had a rough go of it. He lived his entire youth under his grandma's roof and never knew his father. Luckily his grandma was very supportive of his creative endeavors and eventual jump into MMA. Sadly, he lost his mother when he was 16 as she suffered complications stemming from a pre-existing heart condition. That loss and the need for change brought him to the wrestling mats and inspired his eventual transition to professional fighting. In 2014 he made his pro debut with a local promotion called Shamrock F.C. 

            Chris Curtis was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1985. He went through public school and even tried college, but found himself in the MMA game at around 24 years old. He had an exhausting 34-fight run, struggling to make ends meet and taking fights he probably didn't need to, just to get paid. Then he got the call and a year later here we are. It's hard to say exactly what a win here will earn him, especially in a very crowded middleweight division. It's interesting to note that his opponent, Joaquin, has said in multiple interviews that he plans to move down to welterweight after this fight. This sport is absolutely wild.