Israel Adesanya believes he will still be fighting Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight title next.
Shortly after UFC 254, Dana White announced Adesanya would be moving up in weight looking to become a champ-champ. Yet, after Glover Teixeira beat Thiago Santos many wanted the Brazilian to get the title shot but the middleweight champion is confident he is next in line.
“I’m pretty confident it will be my next opponent,” Adesanya said to MMAFighting. “Glover had an amazing fight. He did very well. If I’m being objectively honest, rightly so he calls for a title shot cause he feels like he’s up there in age and this is his second shot.
“But I got there first and I feel like I’ve got the right cards in my hand to make this happen. Not saying he’s not going to get a title shot but I was first in line.”
Israel Adesanya, of course, is coming off a second-round TKO win over Paulo Costa to defend his belt for the second time. Before that, he beat Yoel Romero by decision after TKO’ing Robert Whittaker to win the belt.
Jan Blachowicz, meanwhile, won the vacant light heavyweight title last time out with a knockout win over Dominick Reyes. Before that, he KO’d Corey Anderson and Luke Rockhold while also beating Jacare Souza by decision.
