Alex Pereira is refusing to holster the magic ahead of his UFC 303 rematch with Jiri Prochazka.
Earlier this week, Prochazka called for a cease-fire on all things spiritual, telling Ariel Helwani that ‘Poatan’ is scoring wins inside the Octagon thanks to his work with Brazilian shamans. Hours away from their highly anticipated title rematch, ‘BJP’ doubled down on his accusation, declaring his belief that Pereira can’t fight without his “rituals.”
“Everybody knows that he’s doing these rituals before the fight,” Prochazka said. “Everybody can feel that, what’s around him and what’s going on. And I think Alex can’t fight without that. So, that’s something he’s using normally in fighting.
“This is my challenge to to him: if we can fight in a clear way, in this case, yeah? To be without some another things. Let the higher power be there in the cage to see who’s the best in the world, in the performance, in the pure performance. That’s all.”
Pereira offered a rather cold response to Prochazka’s unorthodox challenge.
“Everybody has their own spirits, we’re not just made of flesh and bone,” Pereira said during his turn to speak at the UFC 303 press conference. “If he did not find his or he doesn’t believe, that’s not my fault.”
Jiri Prochazka wants Alex pereira to leave the ‘dirty practices’ at home
Prochazka reiterated that his request is not a question of whether or not he believes—it’s about leaving “dirty practices” at the door and fighting “in a clear way.”
“Sorry, this is not a question of if I believe, if I am self-confident or not. I am 100% self-confident, but this is about dirty practices and all those things behind that,” Pereira replied. “I just want to keep that in a clear way, that’s all I’m talking about.”
Clearly, things are getting a little personal between the two light-heavyweight superstars.