Jan Blachowicz vs Thiago Santos Preview

Jan Blachowicz vs Thiago Santos Preview

By Ivan Surlina

The UFC will look to make a big splash when they make their debut in the Czech Republic on Saturday night for UFC Fight Night 145. Live from the O2 Arena in Prague.

Light heavyweights will clash in the main event as Poland’s Jan Blachowicz takes on Brazil’s Thiago “Marreta” Santos. Blachowicz is currently ranked as the #4 contender in the division, while Santos sits at #6.

Blachowicz is coming off a spectacular submission victory over Nikita Krylov in Moscow back in September of 2018. He has won his last four fights in a row and 23 overall, with 14 of them coming by way of either strikes or submission.

The Poland native has racked up 3 post-fight bonuses in his last 4 outings, with each bonus netting him an extra $50,000.

However, Thiago Santos is no stranger to bonuses himself, having earned 3 post-fight bonuses in his last 5 fights. “Marreta” has 23 wins to his name, with only 5 of those bouts going to a decision. Safe to say, both men will be looking for an emphatic finish come Saturday night.

While attempting to build on his 4 fight winning streak this weekend, Blachowicz will look to utilize his kickboxing abilities to out strike Santos, but do not sleep on the ground game of Jan Blachowicz.

Although he has not needed to use it as much, Jan has a nice ground game and 9 of his 23 professional victories have come via submission. The important thing for Jan will be to stay away from the power right hand of Santos as well as his lethal kicks.

Blachowicz will most likely try to fight as the more technical striker, given his kickboxing background. We might even see a takedown from Blachowicz if the fight starts turning into a slug fest, seeing as Santos has fight-ending power in either hand.

Jan would be wise to try and test that gas tank of Santos. Santos has only gone a full 3 rounds twice in the past 4 years, while Blachowicz has gone the distance plenty of times in the UFC, let alone in his MMA career.

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, Blachowicz needs to pump the jab all night long. His left jab is one of his best and most effective weapons, and a quick jab to the nose will keep any fighter at bay for the moment.

Santos, rejuvenated after moving up from middleweight (185 lbs.), will look to continue his winning ways by putting away Blachowicz in exciting fashion.

Santos is a power puncher who relies mainly on his fists to get the job done for him, but also has an arsenal of kicks that, if they land, can put anyone down in a flash. The game plan for Santos will be to back up Blachowicz and land a powerful hook to the head.

The tricky part for most of his opponents is that Santos switches his stance quite frequently, making it difficult to get a read on his next move. However, if Santos switches to a southpaw stance, just know a kick is headed your way.

Santos has a black belt in Muay Thai, but also in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, so it will be interesting to see if at some point Blachowicz tries to take Santos down. Although he is moving up from middleweight, Santos is the same height as Blachowicz (6’2”) and approximately the same weight after both fighters fully rehydrate.

Santos has looked a different fighter since moving up to light heavyweight, as he’s finished his two opponents in dominant fashion, all while not taking much damage.

Blachowicz and Santos share a common opponent in UK’s Jimi Manuwa, who was recently defeated by both men. Blachowicz won via unanimous decision, while Santos finished Manuwa with strikes in the second round. Both men put on spectacular performances, significantly raising their stock in the UFC’s light heavyweight division.

If you are a betting man, I would highly suggest to not bet on either fighter here, seeing as both men are powerful, explosive, and heavy-handed. This one could go either way, but if you want to bet on one thing, your best chance would be to bet on this fight not going the distance.

Both fighters have a knack for finishing fights, and with the main event spotlight shining down on them, I wouldn’t be surprised to see either fighter knock their opponent down once or twice.

Personally, I foresee this being a back-and-forth affair, with Thiago Santos coming out on top via KO/TKO in round 2.

The outcome of this fight will see one man spring forward into title contention, while the other will move slightly down the pecking order at 205 lbs. Either way, we are in for one hell of a main event on Saturday night, so be sure to tune in on ESPN+.

The preliminary card kicks off at 4PM GMT, while the main card begins at 7 PM GMT.