Ex-UFC champ Jan Blachowicz announces second shoulder surgery, starts road to comeback
Ex-UFC champ Jan Blachowicz announces second shoulder surgery, starts road to comeback
Jan Blachowicz knew it was coming several months ago, and now he can start to think about light at the end of the tunnel.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion said in late 2023 that he needed surgery on both shoulders. Blachowicz (29-10-1 MMA, 12-7-1 UFC) was scheduled to fight Alexander Rakic at UFC 297 in January, but announced the twin surgeries and pulled out of the fight.
Saturday, the Polish light heavyweight posted on social media that he was about to undergo the second procedure.
“ It is what it is …” Blachowicz posted on Instagram. “Going under the knife again. It’s time for the surgery of the other shoulder.
I believe that MML Medical Center will reassemble me, and I would like to thank its boss here – Dr. Michal Michalik, who knows how to take care of a professional athlete, and his specialists perform genuine miracles.
In just a moment, I am putting myself under the care of Dr. Damian Zaborowski. Doctor – let’s do this!
Keep your fingers crossed! With the first shoulder it helped
#LegendaryPolishPower #WillBack”
Blachowicz, who turned 41 in February, won the then-vacant light heavyweight title in September 2020 a few months after it was vacated by Jon Jones. He defended the title against then-middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, but lost it to Glover Teixeira in October 2021.
The road back to title contention started with a May 2022 win over Aleksandar Rakic, but a split draw with Magomed Ankalaev in another vacant title fight in December 2022 kept him stagnant in the pecking order. This past July, he lost a split decision to Alex Pereira in the former middleweight champ’s 205-pound debut. Pereira went on to a vacant title fight and took the belt against Jiri Prochazka this past November.
Blachowicz did not give a new timeline for his return.