Jan Blachowicz (champion) and Glover Teixeira (#1) are two well-rounded athletes. They are both exciting and durable fighters with knockout power on both sides.
Blachowic’s Strengths
- Patience
- Good kick defence
- Ability to explode
- Power
- Good grappling
Blachowic’s Weaknesses
- Head strike openings
Teixeira’s Strengths
- Good boxing fundamentals
- Good low kicks
- Ability to explode
- Ability to flow on the ground
- Great grappling
Teixeira’s Weaknesses
- Body strike openings
What does Blachowicz need to do to win?
Blachowicz is a balanced and well-rounded fighter with substantial knockout power. Blachowicz does most things the right way and patiently looks for openings to land big strikes. With that being said, he does sometimes open himself to head strikes, which can be detrimental when fighting against Teixeira, who has good boxing fundamentals and also has knockout power. To win against Teixeira requires Blachowicz to make this a kickboxing fight. In the early rounds Blachowicz needs to kick Teixeira’s body as much as he can (similar to how he fought against Dominick Reyes), and at the same time look for openings to land solid punches to the head. Doing this will fatigue Teixeira and decrease his defensive abilities; allowing Blachowicz to land more heavy strikes. In the later rounds when both athletes are tired, Blachowicz can spend more time in the boxing range and throw punches more freely.
What does Teixeira need to do to win?
Similar to Blachowicz, Teixeira is also a balanced and well-rounded fighter with knockout power. To win against Blachowicz requires Teixeira to transition well between being a boxer and a kickboxer during striking exchanges. Teixeira needs to kick just enough to get Blachowicz into defensive mode, then slide into boxing range and after a few punches slide back to kicking range or go for the takedowns. This will allow Teixeira to land strikes while decreasing the risk of getting hit back. While both fighters can grapple well, I do think that Teixeira’s transitions are much smoother (compared to Blachowicz), which enables him to try different submissions or even go for ground and pound.
Prediction
This is a very interesting fight because both fighters have to follow a similar game plan but for different reasons. If the majority of this fight takes place on the ground I think Teixeira will be victorious but given their fighting styles, which often leads them both to stand and bang I think Blachowic’s power will surprise Teixeira.
