Alex Pereira vs. Jon Jones is to Happen and Jiri Prochazka Is Ready to Fight for UFC Gold
Jiri Prochazka wants the light heavyweight title, and he doesn’t care who he has to go through.
After coming up short against reigning champion Alex Pereira twice, Prochazka appeared to be stuck in an awkward position within the division. That was until he scored an epic come-from-behind KO against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 320. The win seemingly has everyone chomping at the bit to see ‘BJP’ fight for gold again.
However, if he does, it is unlikely to be via a trilogy fight against Pereira.
After ‘Poatan’ reclaimed the 205-pound crown with a stellar 80-second knockout of Magomed Ankalaev, the Brazilian boogeyman seems dead set on a move to heavyweight.
Chances are, Pereira had his sights set on facing the winner of Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane, but after their bout ended in an unfortunate no-contest at UFC 321, Pereira seems to have pivoted to a long-rumored clash with another former two-division titleholder, Jon Jones.
If Pereira vs. Jones does come to fruition, Prochazka believes he should be one of the two competing for the vacant light heavyweight belt in 2026.
“It’s a big possibility about this fight, but I don’t think so if the UFC will agree with that,” Prochazka told Bloody Elbow while discussing a potential third meeting with Pereira. And the second thing, he’s going to heavyweight, so I think he needs to release the title.
“I don’t know, I don’t really care what will be his next move. Like I said, I want to fight for the title, and right now I don’t care if it’s Alex Pereira, Ulberg, or Ankalaev. If that will be for the title, let’s go for that.”
