Just a few years ago, Jan Blachowicz was really up against it. The former KSW light heavyweight champion had signed with the UFC in 2014 with a reputation as a strong grappler and a host of wins over where-are-they-now veterans: Sokoudjou, Houston Alexander, Goran Reljic.

But success in the Octagon was hard to come by. He ran into a buzzsaw from 2015-17, losing four of five in the UFC. With his UFC career seemingly hanging in the balance, he reeled off four straight wins, but when it came time to face a real top contender – the Brazilian smashing machine Thiago Santos – “Marreta” put Blachowicz on his highlight reel.

Blachowicz had well established that he belonged in the UFC light heavyweight division, but it seemed like he was capped out: he wasn’t going to be quite good enough to beat the division’s very best, especially with Jon Jones lording over the division like a cruel emperor. It was kind of as expected. Guys in their late 30s who had lost to Patrick Cummins don’t win UFC championships.

On Saturday, 19 months after Santos removed him from consciousness, Jan Blachowicz won the UFC light heavyweight title. He did it by trusting his Polish power, cranking uncrowned champ Dominick Reyes with a left that made him do the stanky leg, and completing one of the most inspiring late-career renaissances in UFC history. At 37 years old, Blachowicz has reinvented himself as one of the most mature, confident and crushing strikers in the game, and it’s propelled him to the very top of the sport.

When I previewed the fight the day before, I wondered if Blachowicz would return to his grappling roots. I thought that while he may have superior one-shot power, Reyes would fare better on the feet over a five-round fight. Reyes was much more athletic, had experience going all the way in championship fights, and he’s a skilled technical striker with thumping kicks. That mistake is on me. I hadn’t fully absorbed one fact that is now evidently clear: Jan Blachowicz is a guy who just throws big-ass bombs now, and his heatseekers are some of the most dangerous on Earth.

Blachowicz had displayed some violent power in the fights leading up to the Reyes fight, putting Luke Rockhold out cold last July before avenging an earlier loss to Corey Anderson with a destructive right hook in March. But Saturday’s win was the most complete striking performance of his career, and it

After starting his title fight with Jones earlier this year at a breakneck pace, Reyes seemed much more cautious against Blachowicz – the word is obviously out that he has dangerous power. We had very visible evidence of it just a couple minutes in, when Blachowicz landed a vicious left body kick that created a bruise on Reyes’ side so big and so purple it could be seen from space. Blachowicz went back to the well with the lead left-body kick combination multiple times from that point onward, smacking him directly on that bruise. He also invested in beating up Reyes’ right leg, creating a very visible bruise there as well within the first round: it was almost shocking to see that much damage created by so few strikes. That’s how much thump Blachowicz has, and it seemed like it took the wind out of Reyes’ sails.

Blachowicz made a few deposits in the first. And in the second, he made a big withdrawal. The Pole came out on the hunt in the next round, starting to come in with some tough combinations – although Blachowicz is regarded as more of a counter-striker, he didn’t seem to do a ton of waiting on Saturday. Finally he rushed forward and caught Reyes with a powerful four-punch combo, sending Reyes scurrying against the cage, landing a few more shots in the ensuing exchange before depositing Reyes on his ass with a monstrous counter-left that all but ended the fight.

This version of Blachowicz – I’ll call him Murder Blachowicz – is a scary, scary man. Since the loss to Santos, we’ve seen him knock guys cold with either hand, and from the back foot more often than not. He lands his biggest blows in the counter, but he has no fear of taking the lead. He’s developed pounding kicks to the legs and the body. And I thought his defense looked excellent against Reyes: facing a younger, quicker man, Murder Blachowicz did a tremendous job with his movement, circling away from Reyes’ biggest shots and taking very little damage.

After years of Jon Jones’ dominance over the light heavyweight division, there’s now a new era. It could go down as the era of Murder Blachowicz. He seems likely to next rematch Santos, who knocked him out last year, and since Jones vacated the title I had always sort of figured the belt would find its way around “Marreta” long-term – provided he’s fully recovered from the knee injury he suffered against Jones, of course.

But after that performance? I’m not so sure. Murder Blachowicz is a dangerous man. You know Santos is going to want to stand and trade, and maybe it ends the way it did the first time, but Blachowicz has only gotten better and better. He’s rounded into one of the baddest strikers around. I have a hard time seeing the Blachowicz that showed up on Saturday getting tanked by anyone. So who the Hell knows?

Here’s a better question, perhaps. Do you want to bet against Polish power?