UFC light heavyweight contender Jan Blachowicz has an odd ritual before a fight. The Polish athlete would touch a rope from a hanged man that he found in the forest back in his homeland.
A while ago, Jan Blachowicz was in a forest walking his dog when he encountered a dead man hanging on a tree. He immediately called the authorities to come and check out the scene.
Hilariously, a police officer was the one who convinced him that this was a good luck charm.
Blachowicz first revealed this in a documentary for UFC 253.
“When you find a hanged man, you take his rope for luck. That’s what people believed in the old days.” Blachowicz said, repeating the officer’s words.
Blachowicz wasn’t sure about it so he looked it up on the internet and it’s actually a thing. He found relevant information about the charm and the police officer was speaking the truth.
“I checked the internet, and sure enough, that is exactly what people thought and believed in. If you don’t believe me, check for yourself.” Blachhowicz added.
It is unclear why the authorities left the rope on the tree. However, Blachowicz said before every clash, he would go back to Poland to touch said rope.
The 39-year-old is now convinced that it’s a good luck charm and that it’s proven effective. Blachowicz said that he has a 90% success rate after performing this ritual.
Blachowicz went even further by creating a bracelet using said piece of the rope. The former KSW champion explained that he is afraid that someone might take the rope or cut down the tree.
According to the paper ‘Executing Magic in the Modern Era’, it was normal for medical students in Paris to sell rope of a hanged person to hospitals. There was also a huge demand for the rope to be used as a lucky charm.
In the 1880s, it was apparently not unusual for Parisian medical students to sell bits of the rope that were still attached around the necks of brought into the hospitals.
There was huge demand in Paris for hanging rope as a lucky charm, it reported, noting that French card players and the superstitious had to rely on these relics.