UFC targeting Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya light heavyweight title fight at UFC 259

#Israel #Adesanya will get his chance to become a two-division UFC champion in #March.

UFC officials on #Wednesday confirmed to MMA #Fighting a plan to have #Adesanya, the current middleweight champion, jump up to 205 pounds to challenge #Jan #Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title at UFC 259. ESPN initially reported the news.

UFC 259 takes place #March 6 at a location and venue yet to be announced and airs live on ESPN+ pay-per-view.

#Blachowicz attempts his first title defense after capturing the vacant title with a second-round finish of #Dominick #Reyes at UFC 253. #After losing four of five between #April 2015 and #April 2017, #Blachowicz has gone 8-1 in his past nine appearances and has won four straight. The 37-year-old also holds stoppage wins over #Corey #Anderson and #Luke #Rockhold on the road to his first UFC title.

UFC middleweight champ #Adesanya is undefeated in 20 pro fights, including nine straight in the octagon. “The #Last #Stylebender” captured the interim middleweight title with a unanimous decision win over #Kelvin #Gastelum at UFC 236 in one of the best fights of 2019. The #City #Kickboxing standout became the undisputed champion when he put away #Robert #Whittaker in a title unification bout at UFC UFC 243.

The 31-year-old defended his title successfully in a pair of 2020 appearances, defeating #Yoel #Romero via unanimous decision and then finishing #Paulo #Costa in a masterful performance at UFC 253.