The growth of social media has helped UFC fighters immensely over the last decade or so. Using social media allows fighters to connect with their followers, while fans get to understand their favorite fighters better, all whilst getting a sneak peek into their lives. However, despite there being a lot of positives, using social media can come with its own set of challenges for public figures. Unfortunately, former champion Jan Blachowicz recently experienced one of the drawbacks of being prominent on social media.
The former champion took to Twitter to apologize to fans and share news about his Facebook account. The 41-year-old said,
“Dear all! A few days ago my Facebook account was hacked and I no longer have access to it. I am aware of what kind of content is published on it, and even though I am not the author, I am sorry that you have to see it.”
Unfortunately, fans following Blachowicz’s account were in for a shock, as several obscene videos and photos were posted on it. Although the images have now been deleted, and Blachowicz has regained full control over his account, it was not a pleasant experience for the champion or his fans across the world.
Despite such an incident not being common, it is not the first time that a fighter’s social media accounts have been hacked. Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman was one such victim as his Twitter account was hacked in January 2020. Surprisingly, the UFC’s official Instagram as well as Twitter accounts were also hacked in the same year.
Jan Blachowicz to return to UFC action soon?
Blachowicz became the second person from Poland to win a championship in the UFC following the footsteps of Joanna Jedrzejczyk. He won the belt by knocking out Dominick Reyes in the second round of their fight at UFC 253. He then defended the belt once against Israel Adesanya before losing it to Glover Teixeira.
In his most recent outing, Blachowicz lost against Alex Pereira who was making his light heavyweight debut at UFC 291. Following the loss, the former champion stated that he would be taking some time away from the sport to assess his options and figure out his future plans. At this point in time, there has been no news about a potential fight for Blachowicz. However, based on rankings, Nikita Krylov and Khalil Rountree Jr. are a few fights that make sense for the former champion.
