Alex Pereira isn’t a fan of Jiri Prochazka changing his tune on their first fight went at UFC 295.
Last November in New York City, Pereira would take the vacant light heavyweight throne with a second-round TKO of former champ Prochazka but the result didn’t come without controversy. After getting off to a good start against Pereira, Prochazka was caught in the pocket by the powerful “Poatan”, who sent him down to the canvas with a few follow-up strikes. Referee Marc Goddard wouldn’t allow Prochazka much time to recover on the ground, putting a stop to the contest in mere seconds.
Prochazka Deems UFC 295 Result ‘Early Stoppage’
In the moment, Prochazka made peace with the stoppage but in the months that followed, Prochazka later reflected that the matchup had been stopped prematurely in Pereira’s favor.
“I said what I said, and that was right in that time. But when you see that many times and when the people asked me for that many times, and especially when I saw that fight, I had to say it was an early stoppage,” Prochazka told Michael Bisping. regarding his UFC 295 clash with Pereira.
“…Jamahal [Hill] had much more time than me to survive that moment. I know how to survive the hard moments, and I know how to to get back, how to win, and how to reverse it.”
Pereira On Prochazka: “All Of A Sudden, He Started Changing…”
Seven months later, Prochazka will get a shot a redemption against Pereira after having TKO’ed top contender Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 300. The Czech fighter meets Pereira on two weeks notice in the main event of UFC 303 on Saturday.
Following their fight at UFC 295, Prochazka wasn’t really on the mind of “Poatan” despite the questionable stoppage. Pereira instead had his sights on fighting Jamahal Hill or maybe even Magomed Ankalaev in the future. But, he’d change course for Prochazka as his former champ did regarding his view on their stoppage.
“I think because the way that he spoke,” Pereira told Daniel Cormier, on what makes him want to fight Prochazka again. “First he spoke that he accepted the knockout, he accepted the result of the first fights. Then all of a sudden, he started changing, saying that he did not accept the stoppage. So doing that, he ended up showing as a guy that he lose a little bit of credibility, lose a little bit of credit, merit by doing that.”
Pereira On Risking It All (Again)
When asked why he’s taking a short notice title defense at UFC 303, after doing just that months prior at UFC 300, the reigning champion simply says, “why not?”
“I prepare myself. If was just the money, [if] I’m not training hard, [if] I’m not prepared, I will not take the fight. So if I’m ready, if I’m somehow ready, why not take this opportunity and achieve?”
