Jan Blachowicz releases statement following split decision loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 291: “They robbed me”

Former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz has issued a statement following his split decision loss to Alex Pereira at tonight’s UFC 291 event.

Blachowicz (29-10-1 MMA) returned to action in the co-headliner of tonight’s event in Salt Lake City for a light heavyweight matchup with former middleweight champion Alex Pereira (8-2 MMA).

The Polish powerhouse was competing for the first time since fighting Magomed Ankalaev to a split draw for the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 282. Blachowicz had gone 6-1-1 over his previous eight fights, with his lone loss in that time coming to Glover Teixeira by way of submission.

Meanwhile, Alex Pereira (8-2 MMA) was making his light heavyweight debut after losing the UFC middleweight title to Israel Adesanya back in April of this year. ‘Poatan’ entered the contest having gone 3-1 in his UFC career, which included stoppage victories over Sean Strickland and the aforementioned ‘Stylebender’.

Tonight’s UFC 291 co-main event proved to be a tightly contested back and forth affair. Jan Blachowicz was able to dominate Alex Pereira on the ground in round one, almost scoring a rear-naked choke submission for the finish. However, ‘Poatan’ was able to keep the fight standing for the majority of rounds two and three and ultimately got off the better shots during that stretch. After fifteen minutes of action the bout went to the judges’ scorecards for decision.

Official UFC 291 Result: Alex Pereira def. Jan Blachowicz by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Fans, analysts and fellow fighters were torn in regard to the result, with some even labelling the outcome as “ridiculous”.

Shortly following the conclusion of tonight’s event, Jan Blachowicz took to Instagram where he issued the following statement regarding his loss to Alex Pereira.

 

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A post shared by Jan Blachowicz (@janblachowicz)

“Bunch of thieves, they robbed me. Anyway, thank you all for your support. I’ll be back 👊🏻.” – Blachowicz wrote.

Who would you like to see Jan Blachowicz fight next following his split decision loss to Alex Pereira in tonight’s UFC 291 co-main event?