After delivering a couple of noteworthy knockouts at UFC 300, Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira appear to be on a collision course once again.
In November, ‘Poatan’ KO’d Prochazka in the second round of their headliner in MSG to win the vacant light heavyweight title. Since then, Pereira successfully defended his crown with a stellar first-round knockout of Jamahal Hill while ‘BJP’ put away Aleksandar Rakic with an insane come-from-behind finish in the landmark event’s featured prelim.
Those victories appear to have put Pereira and Prochazka on a path that will lead the two back to each other for a summertime scrap.
Speaking with James Lynch on behalf of Bodog Canada, Prochazka revealed that he has not heard anything from the promotion about a potential title opportunity, but he’ll be ready to go as early as June should the UFC decide to lock in the rematch.
“I didn’t heard anything,” Prochazka said. “I just said what I said in the cage after the fight — I want to be the next challenger for the title, and that’s something that is my opinion. Right now it’s up to the UFC, when they want to do this fight because I believe in my win and I will show I am able to take that belt and win in a fight with Alex Pereira.
“I’m waiting to settle this upcoming fight and I still don’t know who, if it will be Alex or who, but I believe the world wants to see that. The world wants to see this fight and I know I have the right weapons to defeat Alex Pereira” (h/t MMA Mania).
Alex Pereira would rather rematch Jiri Prochazka than wait for Magomed Ankalaev
Initially, it appeared as though Pereira’s next fight would be with streaking Russian standout Magomed Ankalaev.
However, the Dagestani would prefer to wait until October when the UFC makes its annual pit stop in Abu Dhabi. ‘Poatan’ has no interest in waiting that long, making Jiri Prochazka a prime target for his next title defense.
“Perfect time for me right now is to take two, three weeks, just a little bit of rest,” Prochazka added. “Take some inspiration. And right now I know what to do in preparation [for] the next [fight], especially for a fight with Alex. But, it’s still about my manager to confirm that. I think about August. July, August, or something like that. October maybe. Doesn’t matter. For me it doesn’t matter.
“If they want for me to fight in some short way, I will do that. I will go for that. If [UFC 303 in June] would be accepted by Alex, I will do that. I will go that.”