A highly-anticipated rematch will take place in the main event at
UFC
303.
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Eight months after headlining UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in
New York, Jiri
Prochazka and Alex
Pereira return to the Octagon, this time at T- Mobile Arena in
Las Vegas on Saturday night. The first time Prochazka arrived as
the favorite, and after dominating the action in the first round,
was knocked out in Round 2 by the Brazilian. This time, the Czech
fighter will arrive as an underdog. Several noteworthy figures from
the Brazilian MMA community weighed in on the UFC 303 main event
with Sherdog.com.
Pedro Rizzo
(former UFC heavyweight contender): If ‘Poatan’ were asked
to take on a fighter with a style opposite to his, for example a
wrestler like Daniel
Cormier with a full camp, and he had less than a week of camp,
it wouldn’t be a smart decision for him to put his belt on the
line, but this is not the case. Jiri is a kickboxer and despite
having dangerous ground-and-pound, I don’t see him looking for a
takedown against ‘Poatan.’ Jiri is a very dangerous striker, but
‘Poatan’ is the best kickboxer in the division, so I see him
winning again.
Carlos
Barreto (UFC Fight Pass commentator): Jiri is one of
the most dangerous opponents for the champion. Aggressive, strong
and with knockout power. But he lacks tactical application. I see
his fighting IQ as his Achilles heel. Something that against a
precise and lethal sniper like ‘Poatan,’ could be a big problem.
Obviously Jiri has powerful ground-and-pound, but he is not a
fighter whose characteristic is to control his opponents on the
ground, like Khabib for example. He tends to give many openings for
his opponents to get up to the striking game again. And in this
striking game, ‘Poatan’ is more lethal than him, in addition to
having the armored mind of a champion, which is very important.
Renato
Carneiro (UFC lightweight): The only certainty I have
in this fight is that it won’t go to a decision. Both Procazka and
‘Poatan’ are two fighters who are looking for a knockout all the
time. And when two strikers with knockout power like them meet,
there’s no way the fight can reach the end of the fifth round.
Although Prochazka is extremely dangerous and has been in camp for
longer, ‘Poatan’ is a more technical and aligned striker. A fighter
who simply doesn’t stop training. So I believe he will win
again.
Antonio
Carlos Jr. (PFL fighter): I think the fans ended up
winning with the collapse of Conor
McGregor and Michael
Chandler‘s fight. After all, everyone wants to see this
rematch. Without a doubt, Jiri is a very tough guy with a karate
game that is difficult to unravel, but ‘Poatan’ is the best striker
in the division and my bet is that he will win again.