LAS VEGAS – “Poatan” did not use Black magic for his knockout.
UFC Light Heavyweight champion Alex Pereira scored another vicious finish last night (Sat., June 29, 2024) when he knocked out Jiri Prochazka for the second time with a head kick from inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (watch highlights). Pereira nabbed another Performance of the Night for his knockout.
Backstage after his win, Pereira’s coach and translator, Plinio Cruz, spoke to Full Send MMA and revealed “Poatan’s” head kick came from watching an Instagram clip of Prochazka warming up.
“Be careful what you post before your fight,” Cruz said. “We were browsing Instagram, just sitting in the back. Someone posted a video of us dancing for the warm-up and Jiri getting ready. What he assumed was the correct block for the calf kick was wrong, and I sent it to Alex. He said ‘when he’s doing this, his hands are down. I’m going to kick this guy in the head.”
A Twitter user found the exact clip Pereira and his coach saw on Instagram.
Check it out below.
Alex Pereira saw this video on social media in his changing room and noticed Jiri drops his hands after every calf kick check and decided to add the head kick to the game plan
CRAZY https://t.co/Rg8Md8Xd49 pic.twitter.com/oUrRIEzwGU
— OOC MMA (@oocmma) June 30, 2024
Now that this information has come out, maybe fighters will be more secretive about their warm-ups. Or perhaps this was just a lucky once-in-a-lifetime screw-up by Prochazka.
Whatever the case, Pereira and his team are brilliant for their research.
Bravo!
For complete UFC 303 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.