JAN BLACHOWICZ admitted that the "fire" was not burning in his heart before he became UFC light-heavyweight champion.
Blachowicz's tenure as the top of the stacked division of 205lbs came to an abrupt halt on a warm October evening in Abu Dhabi.
Jan Blachowicz was defeated by Glover Teixeira
in the UFC light-heavyweight title.
Blachowicz's body language before his title defense against Glover Teixeira was far from what his fans had seen over the years. It was also a visual representation his lack of motivation.
SunSport reported that he said: "It was not my day at the office. Everything went wrong. I was not only defeated in the fight, but the entire camp was awful.
"But my fighting spirit, it was not enough to just say, "Okay Glover, I won't fight against you because of how I feel.
"I can't say anything like this. But, I didn't feel that fire."
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Blachowicz admits to having a bad night mentally but he isn't taking anything away from Teixeira on the night.
He said, "But Glover's the champion." I don’t want to justify myself or make excuses because it is not something I enjoy doing and I have never done it.
"He was better than I on the night, and he beat me. That's all. Now, I feel totally different.
"I feel the fire, and I feel happy that the cage is going to the same place again."
SUN BINGO GET PS50 BONUS & 50 FREE SPINS TODAYBlachowicz, a former champ, is now the hunter and he hopes to regain title contention.
The pursuit for a second title shot starts this weekend at UFC Vegas 54, in which he will be battling Alexander Rakic.
He hopes that a strong performance will earn him the next chance at the belt that was once his.
He stated that he doesn't think about a title shot at the moment. First, Rakic must be defeated. However, if I beat Rakic, it makes sense to fight [for the title].
"He's [ranked] No.3. I'm No.1. One of us will win the title shot, regardless of how it goes."
Blachowicz and Rakic were due to trade blows in March, although a serious - but thankfully non-surgery-requiring - neck injury to the former champ led to the postponement of the bout.
Blachowciz said that he had a pressure point in his neck which was putting pressure onto his nerves. Everything was fine when I was training and sparring.
"But, when someone hit me with light jabs on his head I experienced paralysis in my left side. My left hand was completely numb.
"First, when I woke up with this severe pain, I thought, "Okay, I was having a bad night's sleep. I would go to a massage or something like this and it will be fine.
"But, after this feeling during training I said, "Okay." Because I couldn't move my left arm for a minute.
"So, I said, "Okay, this doesn't sound like bad sleep. This is serious. This is a serious problem. I must see a doctor to get an MRI.
They knew what we would need to do. They said that we might need to undergo surgery but they'd wait to see.
"But they put some medicine into my neck, and after four weeks of rehabilitation, I was lucky because there was no surgery.
"And I could go to my gym and train like before after a few weeks."
Blachowicz doesn't expect a smooth night at work against Rakic, but he is certain he will remind the division that he is still a force for good.
He stated that he believed 80 to 90 percent of the fight would be stand-up. This will make it really difficult. It will be a difficult fight. He's a tough opponent, and I'm a tough fight. I feel the fire in my heart again."
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Blachowicz doesn't look past his opponents, but he does keep one eye on the post-fight victory beer.
He stated that he was certain it would be the best fight of his life if he is defeated in the first round or second. After the fight, he will go for the beer.
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