The payoff came almost immediately with Blachowicz earning a Performance of the Night bonus for a submission win over Clark and he still hasn’t tasted defeat since then.
As difficult as it was to go through that rough patch in his career, the 35-year old light heavyweight felt like it was necessary because he had to stumble and fall before he could learn to walk again.
“You do something all your life, you try to be the best in the world and you’re doing what you love but then you start losing,”Blachowicz said. “You don’t know what is going on. I felt good and then I don’t feel good. I had to figure out what was wrong, why I’m fighting so bad and what I need to change to be a good fighter again.
“The couple of losses, I realized I had to get back to my old coach and everything will be good again.”
The results since reuniting with his coach have been undeniable.
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Blachowicz has gone 4-0 in his past four outings with the real turning point in his recent run happening two fights ago when he avenged a prior loss in the UFC to British slugger Jimi Manuwa.
In their first meeting, Blachowicz was flat and ineffective for three straight rounds as he endured a lopsided loss to Manuwa while competing in front of a home audience in Poland.
Three years later when they met again, Blachowicz knew it was do or die to not only get that win back but also prove that he could hang with the elite light heavyweights in the UFC.
“The fight against Jimi, that was a really hard mental fight for me because he beat me in the first fight,” Blachowicz stated. “Then I beat him in the second. I know when I lost against him and they gave me the rematch, I knew this was where I would find out if I could beat him. I’m either on this level or I’m not on this level.
“I beat him and I knew I could be the better fighter all the time and I’m still learning.”
