UFC 259: Bareman Explains Why Blachowicz Is Adesanya’s Toughest Test
Coach Eugene Bareman thinks UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz is Israel Adesanya’s toughest test to date.
Middleweight champion Adesanya moves up to 205lbs this weekend to challenge Blachowicz for the title in the UFC 259 main event. If he manages to win on the night, ‘The Last Stylebender’ will become only the fifth fighter is UFC history to hold two belts simultaneously, but beating the Polish maestro won’t be an easy task.
Step Up In Competition
Speaking to Submission Radio (as transcribed by MMA Junkie), Bareman said that Blachowicz is a major step-up in competition for his pupil.
“This is Israel’s hardest fight by quite a bit,” Bareman said. “I think this is a jump up from any of his previous challengers. And for all intents and purposes within our camp, we are building ourselves as the underdogs. And we’re doing that based on we’re giving away this size and weight advantage that we sometimes have in our favour. Now we’re gonna give it away. So, it’s just a very hard [fight].
“What we’re about to attempt here is, people don’t understand, a very, very difficult endeavour and a very risky one, and one that makes for all us coaches and Israel, it makes the hairs on the back of our necks stand up. Because this is a true, true challenge – a hefty challenge. And it’s a scary one, and it’s one that gets you up early in the morning and wanting to attack it. And we’ve had a great camp because it’s just a highly motivating fight. And it’s a highly motivating fight because it’s such a dangerous fight.”
Blachowicz’s Strengths
Despite the odds against him, Blachowicz is confident of giving Adesanya a taste of his legendary Polish power and handing him his first loss in MMA. Bareman said that the 38 year old’s confidence will also be a huge obstacle to overcome on the night.
“The second thing that makes him very dangerous is his confidence,” Bareman noted. “And his confidence doesn’t get talked about a lot because it’s not the braggadocios type of confidence that is a little bit more in line with Israel’s type of confidence. It’s just a quiet, unassuming confidence that I believe Jan has in his ability, and I believe Jan is extremely confident that Israel is not gonna have the tools to beat him.
“A lot of people, they understand that they have to be confident in a fight and they try to exude that, but they try too hard. Their confidence, to be honest, with a lot of fighters, it’s not really there. They’re just hoping that confidence, through acting confident, they’re hoping that this confidence will just arise out of nowhere. They don’t truly have it. But that’s not the case with Jan. I feel that he is genuinely, supremely confident that he can win this fight.
“And that to me, that’s like a very dangerous opponent. That’s an opponent that’s got nothing to lose. That’s an opponent that’s going to be willing to come in there and take risks that the other previous opponents haven’t been willing to do. So, two things: His physical advantages and then this quiet unassuming confidence that he kind of walks around with. I think those are the two dangerous things that kind of underline this fight.”
Who do you think wins the UFC 259 light heavyweight title bout between Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya?
See also: