Point of interest: Return to the mat?
As eluded to on the previous page, the first fight saw Anderson win through wrestling attrition despite Blachowicz scoring the first takedown (becoming one of just two men to take Anderson down in the UFC).
Since amassing his recent return of momentum, Blachowicz has reestablished his full-time training camp in Warsaw, a place where the Pole has been able to shore up the holes that were haunting him in the wrestling department.
Now, Blachowicz appears much more competent and comfortable when changing levels to counter aggression or when setting up and chaining takedowns of his own. More importantly, Blachowicz’s improvements have also translated defensively, demonstrating solid defensive fundamentals when fending off offensive grapplers like Devin Clark, Luke Rockhold or Ronaldo Souza.
However, despite winning those contests, the Polish contender spent a lot of time with his back against the fence in those fights – something that could be more costly given his current counterpart.
Anderson, who is an effective transitional wrestler in the open, tends to chain takedowns very well from the cage and has only improved on his ability to make his opposition work.
Not only is Anderson able to ground his opponents consistently (as the current takedown leader at light heavyweight in the UFC), but he has also done a better job at keeping them down, a problem that had been a persistent theme when looking closely at earlier fights. Anderson always displayed a solid understanding of levers and wrist-rides as he would actively pick off his opposition’s posts, but his eagerness to apply his high-volume offense would often allow for openings to stand.
Noting this issue, Anderson showed to adjust his approach over the years, utilizing heavy shoulder pressure to keep positions, as well as implementing safer rides to get damage off from a three-quarter mount.
Blachowicz is a legitimate Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who is deceptively flexible and capable from the bottom, but after seeing how he fared against a fairly green version of Anderson, I’m not sure I like his chances should he get stuck on his back for large portions of the fight again.
Next point of interest: Odds, opinion and prediction