Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Jan Błachowicz vs. Magomed Ankalaev Ends in Split Draw at UFC 282; Title Still Vacant

Alex Ballentine

After five hard-fought rounds between Jan Błachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 282, the judges declared a split draw, and the light heavyweight championship remains vacated.

This marked only the fifth time in UFC history a title fight has ended in a draw:

Błachowicz showed right away that it wouldn't be an easy night for Ankalaev. He landed left kicks that forced the 30-year-old to switch stances early, setting up a storyline that would play a role throughout the fight.

The Polish veteran turned up the heat with the low kicks in the second round. Ankalaev was clearly hobbled, although he continued to throw punches that landed as well.

An already intriguing fight became even more interesting when Ankalaev finally got his first takedown in the third round. He controlled Błachowicz for the final parts of the third round, and a new path to victory was forged.

Ankalaev wasted no time in getting the fight to the mat in the championship rounds. He controlled most of the fourth and fifth rounds with his ground game, slowly accumulating damage and making his case to take the title.

The result throws the light heavyweight division into even more chaos. The main event was originally slated to be a rematch between Jiří Procházka and Glover Teixeira. However, a serious shoulder injury led Procházka to vacate the belt.

Ankalaev was supposed to fight Teixeira for the championship, but he turned down the bout citing Ankalaev's southpaw stance, per ESPN's Brett Okamoto. He wanted more time to prepare for the unique challenges the Russian presents.

Instead, the UFC replaced Teixeira with Błachowicz, who happened to win the belt the last time it was vacated.

Now, there's a bit of a logjam as Teixeira was expecting to fight the winner of the bout. Now there is no winner to fight.

"I think I'll fight the winner of the two because I'm still the No. 1 contender," Teixeira told Okamoto. "But they can take anybody they want. They can take someone not even ranked to fight for the title because it's their company. I don't know what they're going to do, but I'm here. The plan is to fight the winner. I've earned that."

Procházka will need time to heal, so there is some time for the division to get sorted out before he returns.

   

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