Jiri
Prochazka believes he still has unfinished business with
Alex
Pereira.
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Prochazka recently scored a bonus-winning knockout victory over
Aleksandar
Rakic at UFC
300 on April 13. Pereira also defended his light heavyweight
strap with a brutal technical knockout win over Jamahal
Hill in the main event of the same card. Having suffered a TKO
loss against “Poatan” in a bid for the vacant title in November
2023, Prochazka now wants a rematch against the Brazilian at
UFC
301, which goes down on May 4 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While
the Czech star is ready to go through one more test if the UFC
wants it, he believes he has done enough to deserve a gold bid.
“Like I spoke after the fight, I’m looking for the title fight, for
Alex Pereira. And I was able to and am still able to take the fight
in Brazil. And I will see,” Prochazka said in an interview with
Michael Bisping. “Now it’s on the UFC [at] this
point. Let’s see if there will be necessary to fight someone else
before the title fight, I will do that. But I think I deserve it
after that decision in New York and after [I] won this fight.”
If Prochazka is able to receive a title shot, it’s unlikely to
happen at UFC 301, however. Pereira
recently revealed that he would not likely be medically cleared
to compete in Rio de Janeiro.
While there was some controversy regarding Prochazka’s stoppage
loss against Pereira, “BJP” dismissed “early stoppage” claims in
his post-fight interview. However, having rewatched the fight,
Prochazka has changed his stance. He believes he did not get enough
time to recover, unlike Pereira’s latest foe Hill.
“I said what I said, and that was right in that time. But when you
see that many times and when the people ask you for that many
times, so when I saw that fight, I have to say it was an early
stoppage,” he said. “Because if you know me – especially in this
case when you see the Jamahal Hill vs. Pereira [fight] right now…
it was similar like in my fight and Jamahal had much more time than
me to survive that moment. And I know how to survive the hard
moments and I know how to get back, how to win, how to
reverse.”
Prochazka has proven himself capable of surviving and turning
around tough situations throughout his UFC career. In his last
outing, Prochazka’s lead leg was chewed up along with a cut near
the right eye before he came from behind to knock Rakic out.
However, Prochazka realizes he can’t possibly risk letting down his
defense against Pereira ,who recently destroyed former heavyweight
champ Francis
Ngannou‘s punching power record.
“It’s hard to speak about the performance with Alex Pereira when
you saw my performance with Aleksandar Rakic. I realized that I
can’t, especially with Alex, there is no way to work with him like
I worked with Aleksandar Rakic,” he said. “Because just one punch,
one two punches, and that’s mean everything. But still, I realized
that my opponent will make my performance because I would not fight
in the same way with Rakic in the same way with Pereira. I know I’m
working, I will be another person.”