After spending his entire Ultimate Fighting Championship career at middleweight, Luke Rockhold has decided to move up to 205 where a tough Pole in Jan Blachowicz is ready to welcome him. They are scheduled to lock horns on July 6 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The numbers below should give you an idea of how this UFC 239 matchup will go down.
Longest winning streak
Both Rockhold and Blachowicz are coming off a loss, but they also pride of having worked a nine-fight winning streak some time in their respective careers. For Blachowicz, most of it happened during his stint at KSW, where he notably faced inaugural Bellator light heavyweight champion, Christian M'Pumbu.With every fight of his 9-0 run coming at Strikeforce, Rockhold holds the distinction of having the more substantial record. In fact, he captured the Strikeforce middleweight championship by beating Ronaldo Souza and defended it against Keith Jardine and Tim Kennedy. After that, he relinquished his title due to move to the UFC.
Striking accuracy
Blachowicz is a former professional kickboxer with a 34-0 record, including 15 by knockout. That only meant the Pole would make for a feared commodity when he eventually transitioned into mixed martial arts. True enough, he has exhibited some high-level striking inside the Octagon. Blachowicz has had 11 UFC fights and landed 466 out of the 944 significant strikes he threw, making for a 49 percent striking accuracy.Rockhold was a raw talent when he stepped at the confines of the American Kickboxing Academy for the first time in 2006. Under the guidance of Javier Mendes, his standup game developed into the respected weapon it is today. He registers a 56 percent striking accuracy in the UFC, having landed 311 out of the 555 significant strikes he has launched.
Takedown accuracy
The opposing light heavyweights both have a decent takedown game, but it’s the jiu-jitsu black belt Blachowicz who has been busier looking for takedowns, at least in the UFC. He was successful getting opponents to the ground 12 out of 25 times, making for a 52 percent takedown accuracy. Rockhold has only made a total of 11 attempts, completing five of them. That makes for a 45 percent takedown accuracy.Career losses
Rockhold has only lost four times in his entire professional career. In his second professional fight, the native of San Jose, California, was knocked out by Tony Rubalcava in a local tournament. He then went undefeated for nearly five years before bowing to Vitor Belfort in the main event of UFC on FX 8. Later on, Rockhold was also defeated by Michael Bisping and Yoel Romero.Blachowicz, meanwhile, has twice as many losses as Rockhold. He lost to Marcin Krysztofiak, Andre Fyeet and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou before joining the UFC, where he was then defeated by Jimi Manuwa, Corey Anderson, Alexander Gustafsson, Patrick Cummins and Thiago Santos.