Jimi Manuwa, Jan Blachowicz set for rematch at UFC London

MMAfighting.com

Jimi Manuwa did not get his wish of a showdown with Glover Teixeira.

Instead, the English light heavyweight will take on resurgent former KSW champion Jan Blachowicz for a second time at UFC London on March 17, which takes place at The 02.

The first time the pair fought at UFC Fight Night 64 in Krakow, Manuwa scored a one-sided decision over Blachowicz.

The UFC announced the fight on Thursday morning through its social media channels.

“Posterboy” believed he was closing in on a title shot against Daniel Cormier before Volkan Oezdemir stole his championship trajectory with a first-round knockout at UFC 214. Manuwa had scored two big wins before suffering defeat to the Swiss standout, finishing Ovince Saint Preux in the second round at UFC 204 and claiming a first-round knockout over Corey Anderson at UFC Fight Night 107.

Blachowicz needed nothing less than a win when took on Devin Clark at UFC Gdansk in October after losing four of his last five fights. He started 2017 with a decision loss to Patrick Cumminsbefore he bounced back with a second-round submission win over Clark in front of his home support at UFC Fight Night 118.

The Polish light heavyweight scored the biggest win of his career at UFC on Fox 26 when he banked a decision win over Jared Cannonier. After controlling the pace of the fight with his superior striking over the first 10 minutes, he was already winning the fight before Cannonier tried to make an impression in the final round of their clash, which topped the preliminary card in Winnipeg.

Manuwa had hoped to get a fight with Teixeira in 2018 after claiming both the Brazilian andMauricio Rua had turned down fights with him. Following his win over Misha Cirkunov, Teixeira claimed that he thought it made more sense for Manuwa to travel to Brazil to take him on, rather than him making the journey to take on Manuwa on home soil in the UK.