Jiri Prochazka suffered his first defeat in the promotion with a second-round knockout loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 295. Prochazka, who vacated the light heavyweight title due to a shoulder injury, was unable to get it back in the vacant title fight against Pereira.
With Pereira looking to defend the title for the first time at UFC 300 against Jamahal Hill, another champion who vacated the title due to injury, Prochazka has plans to win back the title and it starts at UFC 300.
Jiri Prochazka opens up about upcoming UFC 300 bout
Jiri Prochazka is fighting at UFC 300 against Aleksandar Rakic in the featured bout of the prelims. Prochazka and Rakic being on the prelims are proof enough of the stacked nature of the coveted PPV card.
Preluding his fight against Rakic which is days away, Prochazka opened up about the bout in his recent interview with The Schmo. “This is my new start. So for me, it doesn’t matter if I’m on the prelims or in the main event. My fight is every time the main event”, said Prochazka.
Even though Prochazka is a former champion of the division, he is a betting underdog against his opponent. On the other hand, Rakic is coming off an injury and has not fought since he suffered a knee injury at UFC Vegas 54 against Jan Blachowicz, as per Sherdog.
Prochazka is a Czech Republican whereas Rakic is an Austrian. Along with the Polish Jan Blachowicz, the Ukrainian Nikita Kyrlov, and the Swiss Volkan Oezdemir, they occupy half of the top 10 spots in the UFC’s light heavyweight rankings.
How will UFC LHW title picture look if Jiri Prochazka wins at UFC 300?
Even though Jiri Prochazka is coming off a loss, a victory over Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 300 would likely get him a title shot next. Jamahal Hill has already revealed that he wants to fight Prochazka if both of them have an impressive showing at UFC 300.
Alex Pereira has already revealed that he intends to headline UFC 301 after UFC 300 with Magomed Ankalaev being the possible opponent. Ankalaev came into the title picture after his knockout victory over Johnny Walker in the main event of UFC Vegas 84.
Nevertheless, a light heavyweight title fight happening at UFC 301, which is only days away from UFC 300, is extremely low. Since Ankalaev is waiting in the wings and the UFC has to do a PPV in Abu Dhabi in October, there is little chance for Prochazka to fight for the title this year.
Nonetheless, if Jamahal Hill is victorious at UFC 300, he will likely call out Prochazka. If Pereira wins, he will likely angle for a fight with Ankalaev at UFC 301 or possibly UFC 307 or UFC 308.
Do you think Jiri Prochazka will become a champion in the UFC again? Leave your thoughts about it below!
