Jiri Prochazka one game away from the title? Pereira reportedly refused to rematch, UFC made a promise. Coach warns of tough opponent

UFC boss Dana White announced some excellent news early Friday morning. Jiri Prochazka will have the honor of appearing at the UFC 300 gala. His opponent will be Aleksandar Rakic. How important a fight is this with regards to the future and what to expect from it?

Jiri Prochazka knows not only the date and place, but also the opponent for his next fight. On April 14th, he will appear at the UFC 300 gala at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where he will face his long-time rival Aleksandar Rakic.

Rakic was supposed to fight Jan Blachowicz in January, but the latter was injured. Immediately after his withdrawal, the Vienna native challenged BJP. The Moravian Samurai accepted the offer but could not agree to the date.

After losing to Alex Pereira, Prochazka needed to get his health back together. Complications accompanied him throughout his preparation for the last match. So there were various heckles from Rakica about the date, but the last few days have been quiet. Now we know why. They have agreed on the date.

The Austrian fighter with Serbian roots has a lot to look forward to. It will be his first fight after a long break. In May 2022, he was injured in a fight with Blachowicz and hasn’t fought since.

“When the injury happened, he didn’t want to rush his return. He could have come back maybe after a year, but he gave it a recovery and everything. He’s going to be terribly dangerous. He‘s a determined fighter who goes for what he wants, but we’ll beat him,” BJP coach Jaroslav Hovězák told Sport.cz about Rakic.

A win and then the title? Prochazka is clear

Jaroslav Hovězák didn’t speak about his ward’s future with any certainty. “It’s speculation, but personally I think that if we win, we will go back for the title. There is nothing else. What else do we have to prove?” he offered his perspective.

It’s Jiri Prochazka who is much more confident of a title shot. “We talked with the UFC management that if I win, I’ll get a title shot,” he told TN.cz.

It’s worth mentioning that BJP revealed that he was interested in a rematch with Alex Pereira, but he didn’t want it. However, the Moravian Samurai respects his decision, even though he would like to fight him again. So now he has a fight with Rakic.

According to Prochazka, Rakic’s strength is also his weakness. Specifically, he’s referring to his over-aggression and over-pulling. The Vienna native is said to be very strong and will want to push the body a lot, getting the fight into the clinch and on the ground.

And the fact that he’ll be stepping in right at the UFC 300 anniversary gala? “I have a good relationship with the UFC management, my style is attractive to the audience. Whatever gala it is, I’m going for the win,” Prochazka believes.

Source: Sport.cz, TN.cz, UFC