“If I had some real problem with Aleksandar, I will go to his home and I will knock on his door.”
A light heavyweight showdown with major title implications just got a bit more interesting after Aleksandar Rakic once again accused Jiri Prochazka of being a “fake samurai.”
The original comment comes from back in 2021 when Prochazka crossed over from RIZIN to become an instant title contender. Rakic had spent years grinding his way up the rankings, and was clearly annoyed. Now it’s come up again as the two European fighters prepare to scrap.
“Yeah, I said he’s a fake samurai,” Rakic said at UFC 300 media day. “Because you cannot become a samurai after just reading a book. What his coach gave it to him and live this spirit, you know. If you’re a samurai, you need to live this for a long time and not for the last two-three years. So that’s why I said he’s a fake samurai.”
Aleksandar Rakic on Jiri Prochazka: ‘I said he’s a fake samurai, because you cannot become a samurai after just reading a book.’ pic.twitter.com/s381XkUr5w
— Oscar Willis (@oscarswillis) April 10, 2024
Prochazka initially shrugged off the comment and almost refused to respond.
“He’s talking too much, he doesn’t know me,” Jiri finally said. “But he will know who I am in the cage, who I am, and where I am able to go to take a win. He doesn’t know me personally. If you don’t know someone personally how can you speak about them? Whatever.”
“I never said about myself that I’m a samurai because I’m respectful of all the warriors from history,” he added. “And I’m sharing with the people, all of the world, the best ideas and thoughts which helps me to improve myself and keep me on the way. He will like that, he doesn’t know anything about me and how I’m living.”
To be fair, anyone who watches Jiri Prochazka’s YouTube channel or social media accounts kind of knows how he’s living: like a maniac. Yes, he forges weapons and trains with a samurai sword. He also punches trees, whips himself with nettles, and locks himself in a dark room for days.
He’s not just a fake samurai. Jiri is so much more, and we love him for it.
“If I had some real problem with Aleksandar, I will go to his home and I will knock on his door,” Prochazka said. “And that will be my answer to you if there will be some problem. That’s all. This is just some talking s— and everyone expects I’ll be ‘Oooh man, that’s just not true, I am samurai and you will die for this!’ Man, this is … nothing. I’m going for a win, that’s all I can say.”
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