UFC 239: Jan Blachowicz rocks, knocks out Luke Rockhold

Jan Blachowicz walks through Luke Rockhold’s kicks and delivers a stunning blow to score a knockout win at UFC 239.

Jan Blachowicz defeated Luke Rockhold via KO – Rd. 2, 1:39 at UFC 239 during UFC International Fight Week on Saturday, July 6, 2019, live from Las Vegas, NV.

Blachowicz scores arguably the biggest win of his UFC run, let alone his career, by dropping the former middleweight champion with a left hand early in the second round. With the win, he hopes to be put into the top echelon of light heavyweight contenders.

Blachowicz adds it was satisfying to answer the trash talk of Rockhold, making his light heavyweight debut, with a knockout — as he previously predicted.

“The trash talk wasn’t working with me, I’m too old for this,” Blachowicz said. “I showed the Polish power.”

Here’s how the fight played out:

Round 1

Rockhold with a couple of high kicks to start things up, focusing on the left. Front kick by Rockhold, followed by a punch. Rockhold comes in for a takedown and it’s a struggle against the cage wall. It takes a while but Rockhold is barely able to get Blachowicz down. Rockhold tried to drag Blachowicz by the neck, but Blachowicz gets back to his feet and in the clinch again. Elbow by Blachowicz. Knee from Blachowicz. Knee from Rockhold. The crowd is starting to get impatient. Blachowicz lands an elbow in close on the button of Rockhold. Left hand by Blachowicz. High left kick again from Rockhold. 90 seconds to go. Front kick by Rockhold. Another kick from Rockhold but Blachowicz answers with a left hand. Another left from Blachowicz. Low kick by Blachowicz. Jab and a high kick from Rockhold. Left overhand missed by Rockhold. Big spinning left kick from Rockhold missed and Blachowicz tags him. Spinning back kick from Rockhold. Rockhold with a front kick. Overhand punch and then a left kick lands and rings up Rockhold, but it landed at the horn!

FanSided scores the round 10-9 Blachowicz

Round 2

Rockhold comes out aggressive but he gets tagged yet again. A couple of kicks from Blachowicz. Overhand left from Rockhold. Inside kick by Blachowicz. Another kick from Rockhold. Rockhold tries to come inside and take Blachowicz down again, but it’s another clinch battle. Knee from Rockhold with his opponent against the cage. Each lands a knee, but Blachowicz lands a HUGE left hook on the chin on the break that makes Rockhold sees stars! Herb Dean steps in! Fight is done!

After losing his UFC debut, Rockhold, the final Strikeforce middleweight champion, won four in a row before claiming the UFC middleweight title from the then-unbeaten Chris Weidman at UFC 194. Rockhold dropped the championship in his first defense to Michael Bisping at UFC 199, and injuries and outside-of-competition opportunities have limited Rockhold to just two fights since. Rockhold defeated David Branch in September 2017 before losing an interim title fight to Yoel Romero at UFC 221.

Despite struggles in the start of his UFC run, dropping four of his first six bouts inside the Octagon, Blachowicz went on a four-fight win streak from late 2017 through 2018, gaining wins over Devin Clark, Jared Cannonier, Jimi Manuwa and Nikita Krylov and gaining three post-fight bonuses. His hot streak was halted, however, when he ran into Thiago Santos in the main event of February’s UFC Prague.

UFC International Fight Week 2019 took place the week of July 3-7 in Las Vegas, NV and played host to UFC 239 which took place on Saturday, July 6, 2019, from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV.