UFC 267 - Blachowicz vs Texeira

I know what you're thinking. ''Oh he's writing again, this won't last long.'' Admittedly I've been very lazy and inactive. But we back! There's a lot of amazing fights coming up and I'm excited to write about and preview them all. So forgive me for my absence. 

Anyway, we're heading towards the business end of the year and Dana White and the UFC seem to be aware of it. Between now and the end of the year we're set to be blessed with some of the most entertaining match ups the sport of MMA has to offer across multiple divisions. UFC 267 has all the makings of being the best UFC card in a while. There are sneaky good fights sprinkled all over the card, including Khamzat Chimaev's return. However unlike everyone else, I'm not believing the hype till I see it for myself. So I'm not dissecting that contest in this piece. The fight I want to really focus on in this piece is the 135lb interim title fight between Cory Sandhagen and Petr Yan. 

But first...

Blachowicz vs Teixeira (Light Heavyweight title)

I'm not the biggest fan of this division. I've been even less of a fan of it since Jon Jones left it behind, but Jan Blachowicz is a legit champion and skilled martial artist. In a division scarce with talent or technical depth as a whole, he stands out in the best way possible. At its core, winning and losing in combat sport can be attributed to a fighter identifying both their own and their opponents strengths and weaknesses, then coming up with and executing a game plan that exploits their opponents weaknesses and their own strengths. Case in point, against Adesanya, Blachowicz was able to mitigate Adesanya's kicking game with checks and counter kicks. He did struggle with Adesanya's feints in large part but his size and length allowed him to jab with Adesanya (both reactively and on the lead) at range without compromising his position, and he was able to punish Adesanya's shallow defence by shooting take downs after throwing him off position with blitzes and feints of his own. 

I'll stop myself here because I could go on for days about how impressive that performance was but that isn't the theme here. My point is that Blachowicz is a big, strong dude with technical ability far beyond his peers. However, Glover Teixeira is no joke, to do what he has done in recent years at his age can't be sneezed at. He's put together a solid run of wins since dropping a fight to Corey Anderson a few years ago. He isn't the most technical guy you'll see but his offensive game is cohesive. He's a powerful wrestle-boxer who, like Blachowicz, can stick to a game plan. His boxing and wrestling work well in concert but when those avenues are shut off he can become unstuck (Jon Jones at his apex was a clinch threat at boxing range and impossible to wrestle, Gustafsson at his best was also an outstanding defensive wrestler and a solid boxer for his division). 

I think Glover will take the route of least resistance in this fight, or should I say the route he believes will have the least resistance. I don't think he can stand with Blachowicz at this stage of his career. Blachowicz is a clean striker with serious power who doesn't neglect the body. He is far too systematic and measured for Glover to have much if any success in that area. In all honesty I'm not too sure about the durability of either man at this point in their careers, I think Glover will push the pace but have a lot of his takedown attempts stuffed, forcing him into a kickboxing match I don't believe he can win. I don't expect to see a many kicks from Blachowicz due to the wrestling threat of Glover, so look out for him using his jab to force responses out of Glover and sitting on his punches when presented with the opportunity. This could easily end in a finish but I'll pick safe and go with a decision. 

Blachowicz by Unanimous Decision (49-46)

Yan vs Sandhagen (interim Bantamweight title)

Petr Yan is one of my 3 or 4 favourite fighters right now along with being one of the 3 or 4 best fighters on the planet. I think the original fight booked for him, a rematch against Aljo Sterling would have been even uglier than the beating that preceded the illegal knee back in March. It's a shame we won't get to see them fight again this weekend but I do think that this alternative is piece of bulletproof matchmaking by the UFC.

Aljo Sterling's ''neck injury'' means he can't make the walk this weekend so Cory Sandhagen has stepped up. I'm a fan of Sandhagen, he is a slick, creative striker who can fight both on the lead and off his backfoot. My only thing is that I consider Petr Yan to be quite a few steps ahead of the entire 135lb division. The match up itself heavily favours Petr Yan, he's a powerful, durable, box-centric pressure fighter who is at least a 9/10 in every aspect of MMA. My main issue with Sandhagen's chances in this fight is his willingness to concede the backfoot rather than assume it (ala Eddie Alvarez). Yan's footwork and pressuring mechanics are refined to the point where cutting off and covering distances to set up his offence seem effortless. A large portion of his M.O is to get his opponents against the cage and sit down on his strikes. I think the fight against Jimmie Rivera is the best example of this as Jimmie did have some success in open space, but was nearly executed whenever his back touched the cage. Sandhagen has had issues against fighters in the past who have been sound enough to force him on his backfoot, because like I said, he is content to stay there. This tendency is actually what led to his two most recent losses against Sterling and Dillashaw. He is also in Petr Yan, fighting one of the more consistent body workers in MMA. Sandhagen does have a vulnerability to body work (John Lineker in some people's eyes snuck a decision against him with a game plan that emphasised body punching) so that also has to be considered as a factor. In short, stylistically this might be the easiest fight for Petr Yan at the top end of this division. Sandhagen can't bully or wrestle him because Yan is the best athlete and wrestler in the division. He can't fight with him at range because Yan will eventually track him down and cut him off, and he can't clinch him or fight with him in the pocket with him because Yan is both the best clinch fighter and pocket boxer in the world. So how does Sandhagen win?

He doesn't. To me this fight can and will only go one way. Petr Yan usually takes a few minutes to adjust to his opponents tendencies so I wouldn't be surprised if Sandhagen comes out of the blocks looking good. Yan is stronger, more durable and the better striker of the two even if Sandhagen is a bit flashier. Sandhagen will likely play at range with jabs and teeps, he'll switch between stances to try and keep Yan honest but Yan will likely counter Sandhagen's offence with a high guard. A high guard that'll work well as Sandhagen doesn't touch the body much outside of those teeps. Yan is also an expert at shooting punches from his guard and keeps his eyes open during exchanges so expect Sandhagen to get stung every time they come together. Eventually, Yan will corral him along the cage and it'll be a game of cat and mouse. Sandhagen will throw and throw to try and keep Yan off him but Yan's defence, durability and counter striking will eventually pay dividends. 

Petr Yan by R3 T/KO 

UFC 267 takes place this Sunday morning (31/10/21) and the main card starts at 3am for those who want to tune in. 

Written by @Atlas8s on twitter