A new light heavyweight champion was not crowned at UFC 282 after all.
In the main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev surprsingly fought to a split draw, with one judge awarding Blachowicz the fight, one judge giving it to Ankalaev, and the final judge scoring it a draw. Blachowicz vs. Ankalaev was the fifth draw in UFC championship history.
Blachowicz (29-9-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) admitted afterward that he believed Ankalaev (18-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) won. A frustrated Ankalaev was shocked with the outcome and even questioned if he wanted to fight for the UFC again.
The #UFC282 main event ends in a split draw. pic.twitter.com/ym9PvdFgDs
— UFC (@ufc) December 11, 2022
Two low kicks were landed by Blachowicz to start Round 1, while Ankalaev poked to the body with front kicks. Both men had success on the feet by throwing singular punches in what was a close first round. Ankalaev continued attacking Blachowicz’s body to start Round 2, but Blachowicz landed two low kicks, which visibly hurt Ankalaev’s right leg and forced him to shoot.
With Ankalaev switching stances, Blachowicz started punishing his other leg with kicks. The tale of this fight had been Blachowicz’s leg kicks vs. Ankalaev’s body work, but with Ankalaev’s movement hindered, the Russian fighter started ramping up the aggression. Another two leg kicks by Blachowicz forced Ankalaev to shoot again, but he was unable to get him down. Ankalaev finally landed a takedown in his seventh attempt, but it came right as the horn sounded.
After finally landing a takedown, Ankalaev started working for another takedown to start Round 4, and two minutes in, he got it and stayed on top for the rest of the round. With momentum on his side, Ankalaev’s forward pressure to start Round 5 caused Blachowicz to stumble back and hit the mat. Ankalaev jumped on the opportunity and claimed top control for the rest of the fight. Ankalaev’s final two rounds of top control appeared to have won him the fight – but only for one judge.
A stunning turn of events to say the least, considering Jiri Prochazka vacated the title prior to UFC 282 because of injury. For now, the 205-pounds division is without a UFC champ.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 282 results include:
- Jan Blachowicz vs. Magomed Ankalaev ends in a split draw (48-47, 46-49, 47-47)
- Paddy Pimblett def. Jared Gordon via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Santiago Ponzinibbio def. Alex Morono via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:29
- Dricus Du Plessis def. Darren Till via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:43
- Ilia Topuria def. Bryce Mitchell via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:10
- Raul Rosas Jr. def. Jay Perrin via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:44
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik def. Chris Daukaus via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:23
- Edmen Shahbazyan def. Dalcha Lungiambula via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:41
- Chris Curtis def. Joaquin Buckley via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 2:49
- Billy Quarantillo def. Alexander Hernandez via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:30
- T.J. Brown def. Erik Silva via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 3:41
- Cameron Saaiman def. Steven Koslow via TKO (punches, knees) – Round 3, 4:13
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 282.
