It will be nearly 17 months to the day of his last fight when Jiri Prochazka returns to the octagon this weekend at UFC 295.
The former light heavyweight champion never lost his title, instead injuring his shoulder in training, later vacating the belt he never had the chance to defend. As Prochazka healed up, Jamahal Hill won gold at 205lbs, with a match-up between the two widely expected before Hill too had to vacate the belt — the result of a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Now, Prochazka (29-3-1) returns to the cage in the main event of UFC 295 in New York City against Alex Pereira, a former middleweight champ looking to claim gold in a second weight class— just as he did in kickboxing, for leading promotion GLORY, years ago.
Is Prochazka looking at this as a new challenge, just another fight, or restoring order in the light heavyweight division? “It depends,” he told media outlets including Cageside Press during Thursday’s UFC 295 pre-fight press conference. “One side of me, it’s taking that, it’s another fight, another place, another opponent. There’s no other thing. But the second thing, beautiful city, New York, Madison Square Garden, main event, great opponent. I’m happy for that. So, like that.”
Prochazka has long been compared to a Samurai warrior, and molds his lifestyle after them. He’s also been vocal about the flaws his saw in his title-winning performance against Glover Teixeira at UFC 275 in June 2022. But asked what the perfect performance would entail, the Czech light heavyweight explained that “for me it’s not just about perfection, but about taking action. That’s my opinion. To show my best performance, like every time.”
During his layoff, he added, “I had more than one year to think about my style, my performance in the cage. What to do, what not to do. And now I really don’t care about that, because I just want to go there and do everything for the win, at just that moment.”
If Jiri Prochazka is a Samurai, then opponent Alex Pereira is an equally dangerous Brazilian warrior, with the headdress and archery skills to prove it. That might make Saturday’s main event one of the coolest UFC match-ups in recent memory — but Prochazka appears to see a full package in the former kickboxer.
“I’m seeing like, completely, all of the complexity. All of the parts, standup, wrestling, ground game, everything like in one piece. That gives me my view, positive view [of] how to deal with that.”
Prochazka, who more or less went radio silent in terms of media a month ago, added that he wanted to thank the Czech fans supporting him. “Especially to my team and all the guys standing behind me. We are going for that. Let’s go for that victory.”
UFC 295 takes place Saturday, November 11, 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY with Jiri Prochazka vs. Alex Pereira headlining.
