Jiri Prochazka was made an offer he just couldn’t refuse.
The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion could have very well waited until later this year to fight Alex Pereira for his long-lost title, but that opportunity came up sooner than expected with the news that Conor McGregor was out of the UFC 303 main event due to a broken toe.
The UFC would page Pereira and Prochazka to save yet another pay-per-view card, serving as the new main event, a repeat of what they did when Jon Jones withdrew from his title fight headliner against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 last November.
“I Am The Yes-Man”
Prochazka had his moments in their first encounter at Madison Square Garden, but Pereira’s power proved to be too much as “Poatan” picked up a second-round TKO. Prochazka dusted himself off with a TKO of his own over Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 300 in April, not leaving much time for him or Pereira to prepare for each other. Though, it doesn’t bother Prochazka – who accepted the fight in a heartbeat.
“Last chance [at Pereira], first chance, doesn’t matter,” Prochazka said on ‘The MMA Hour’. “I’m a yes man, I am the yes-man. I believe in the chances, and I believe in the spontaneous decision.”
Prochazka said the UFC were looking to book the title rematch at either UFC 305 (Aug. 17) in Perth, Australia or UFC 308 (Oct. 26) in Abu Dhabi, UAE before he got the call to step in on short-notice this weekend.
‘Warrior’ Prochazka Likes The Challenge At Hand
While two weeks isn’t the ideal prep time for the biggest fight of your life, the former champ can definitely some upside from not doing a full 12-week training camp – which can take its toll on the body.
“Yes, that’s right.” Prochazka said, when asked if fighting short-notice interests him more than training for 3 months. “I believe in that I was born like a warrior and not that I believe in that… I am the warrior. This is just about when the situation, the things around you came like that, you have to say just yes, to react [to] what happened. Because when you when something happened on the street, you need to react in, right here, right now. That’s something what I like on the short notice because you need to react right now, right here. Show me your best right now. That’s all.
“There is a preparation. There is a a lot of thinking about the strategy, [but this time] no. Now just show me what’s the best in you right now,” Prochazka concluded.
As for his opponent, Alex Pereira was in Australia on a seminar tour whenever he got the call to fight Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303. Like his Czech ‘samurai’ counterpart, Pereira also fought atop the historic UFC 300 card where he demolished former champ Jamahal Hill inside of a round.
Following his first successful title defense, Pereira revealed he fought through two having two broken toes – an injury he’ll have to deal with in this second go with Jiri Prochazka. Despite the inadequate circumstances, the champ would still sign on the dotted line to face Prochazka in one of the most anticipated fights of the year with both light heavyweights reportedly getting a raise from the UFC brass.
We’ll see this gamble pays off for Jiri Prochazka, as game as a challenger can be.
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