UFC Fight Night results: Jan Blachowicz overcomes nightmarish preparation camp to regain title
- Nick Krige
- 15 May 2022
It wasn't quite how Jan Blachowicz would have planned it, but he has regained his UFC light heavyweight title all the same.
Jan Blachowicz's preparation for his UFC light heavyweight title fight against Aleksandar Rakic was far from ideal, but he was able to regain the title in unconventional circumstances anyway.
According to Blachowicz, he suffered a week from hell in the lead up to the fight.
"This camp was very hard for me, a lot of things happened to me," he said after being crowned the winner.
"I had one week that was like, first of all, they stole my car.
"After that I have diarrhoea, I cannot train for three days. When I come back to training, in a sparring session, my sparring partner cut my eye
"I say what the f**k. But thanks to my coach we survive these s**t things, we are here in Vegas, enjoying our life."
It wasn't his elite training that won him the day and the belt, however, as Rakic had to withdraw from the fight in the third round after blowing out his knee.
Ryan Spann forces early submission
The fight between Ryan Spann and Ion Cutelaba burned bright but briefly as the pair wasted no time throwing down.
Cutelaba had Spann on the ground early in the first round before Spann found the space he needed to lock in a guillotine choke that forced Cutelaba to tap quickly tap out.
Davey Grant and Louis Smolka put on a show
The most entertaining fight of the night was between Davey Grant and Louis Smolka who were involved in a lively brawl.
Both fighters were throwing punches with reckless abandon and Grant even managed to drop Smolka in round 1.
The American absorbed some big hits in the early part of round 2 before coming back strong as Grant began to show some fatigue.
However, Grant found another gear in round 3 and he knocked Smolka out with some nasty ground-and-pound action.
Manuel Torres and Frank Camacho go toe-to-toe
The other bout that was all action in Vegas was between Manuel Torress and Frank Camacho neither fighter was willing to waste any time.
The punches were flying from the first moment and Torres was the more accurate of the two, landing several good blows to Camacho's jaw.
The finishing blow came in the third round when Torres knocked Camacho down with a flurry of quick punches and followed it up with ground and pound to force referee Herb Dean to call the fight.
Michael Johnson ends losing streak
Michael Johson arrived in Las Vegas with a four-fight losing streak hanging over him.
His only consolation was that his opponent Alan Patrick was facing the same predicament.
With a combined eight losses between them in a run stretching back to 2018, someone was going to change their fortunes.
Despite having close to a 50-50 record in professional fights, Johnson has beaten the likes of Dustin Poirier and Tony Ferguson in his career.
His quick hands and lightning punches can often catch people off-guard and that was the case for Alan Patrick as he was knocked out in the first round.
