That’s according to the “Rocket,” man.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title hopeful Jiri Prochazka is the talk of the 205-pound town after laying waste to fellow division contender Dominick Reyes, to the point where even current champion Jan Blachowicz was forced to sit up and take notice.
But don’t expect Aleksandar Rakic to let “Denisa” cut the light heavyweight line without putting up a fight.
Literally.
“This fight against Jiri makes the most sense now, and Glover (Teixeira) is going to fight Jan (Blachowicz) in September,” Rakic told MMA Junkie. “Who else is gonna fight Jiri instead of me? Who? … I know what I’m capable of doing, and this is the fight that makes the most sense, me and Jiri, and the winner is gonna fight for the title.”
Rakic (14-2) was ranked No. 2 in the division until Prochazka (28-3-1) unseated “Rocket” in this week’s official update (see it here). With Blachowicz on the bench until September, the next title shot will probably happen in early 2022, a long time for either contender to wait.
“If the UFC want to do it with me and Jiri in September on the same card as Jan and Glover, that would be great for the division,” Rakic continued. “It’s up to the UFC what they want. It’s a lot of hype around Jiri, and I understand this. He did a very good job, but someone needs to stop the hype.”
The 29 year-old Rakic is coming off back-to-back wins over former title contenders Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos. As for Prochazka, 28, he made his UFC debut with a knockout victory over Volkan Oezdemir before moving on to wreck Reyes.
Sounds like UFC matchmakers have some tough decisions to make.