UFC Fight Night 167: Anderson vs. Blachowicz Preview

UFC Fight Night 167 will take place on Saturday at the Santa Ana Star Center in New Mexico. We will have a light heavyweight main event battle between Corey Anderson and Jan Blachowicz.

Main Event Breakdown

Corey “Overtime” Anderson (13-4-0) is currently the fifth-best fighter in the light heavyweight division. The 30-year-old has four wins by knockout and nine by decision. He has a reach of 79 inches that goes along well with a 46 percent striking accuracy and a 50 percent grappling accuracy.

His four losses have mostly come by knockouts, so his opponents have had to really land some good hits on the chin, or they do not win.

Anderson lands about 4.37 significant strikes a minute and absorbs 2.20 a minute, which is a great two-to-one significant strike ratio. He has an extensive wrestling background, so it is surprising to see him not have much of anything for a submission of any kind.

He does still take down his opponents with an average of 4.96 per 15 minutes. He also has a decent takedown defense of 83 percent, so he has done well in this regard.

On the other side of the octagon, we have the 36-year-old Jan Blachowicz (25-8-0), who is the sixth-ranked fighter in the light heavyweight division. Six of his wins have been by knockout, and nine have been by submission.

He has a 50 percent striking accuracy and a 52 percent grappling accuracy.

Blachowicz, with a solid reach of 78 inches, lands roughly 3.54 significant strikes a minute and absorbs 3.11 a minute. That signature strike ratio is not the best and shows that he either does not defend well or is a defensive fighter

Still, he has successfully made it to where he is today fighting this way and can really return some strikes with power. His takedown defense is also a little concerning, coming in at 61 percent. He has handled himself well with his ground game and submission wins.

Final Thoughts

These two fighters met in 2015 when Anderson came away with a decision win over Blachowicz. In that meeting, Anderson landed far more total strikes than Blachowicz (156 for Anderson, 33 for Blachowicz), so on paper, the fight heavily favored Anderson.

But a lot has changed in five years, and this will definitely be different this time around for both of these fighters.