Procházka vs. Pereira in Las Vegas

On June 29, 2024, UFC 303 in Las Vegas will feature a fight between light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and Jiří BJP Procházka.

The light heavyweight title fight already at UFC 303

The fight with Pereira was originally scheduled to take place on August 18 at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia. However, due to Conor McGregor's injury, the UFC was looking for an adequate replacement for the McGregor vs. Chandler fight at UFC 303, so Jiří was given the opportunity for a title rematch with Pereira on June 29 in Las Vegas.

Jiří won the light heavyweight title back in June 2022 at UFC 275 when he defeated Glover Teixeira, who is currently the head coach of Alex Pereira. A rematch was supposed to follow in December, but Jiří was injured during preparations and the fight had to be cancelled. After an agreement with UFC management, he vacated the championship belt and attempted to regain the title in a fight with Alex Pereira at UFC 295 in November 2023. However, Jiří took some hard punches in the 2nd round and referee Marc Goddard stopped the fight - thus Pereira became the new light heavyweight champion and Jiří scored his first defeat in the UFC. At the anniversary UFC 300 Jiří defeated the Austrian Aleksandar Rakič and once again came close to a title fight.

"I realize that the performance I put on against Rakič won't be enough for Pereira. But if he stands in front of me, I know I am capable of putting in a performance that will secure the win," said Jiří. Martin Karaivanov adds, " I have to knock, Jiří is doing well, he's not far from the fight, he's kept himself, he's not lazy, he's ready."

Who is Alex Pereira?

Alex Pereira is a well-known kickboxer who won several titles and became a world champion in the prestigious Glory organization in the middleweight division. He signed with the UFC in 2021 and won the UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 281 in November 2022. In a rematch of Pereira vs. Adesanya at UFC 287, Pereira was knocked out in the 2nd round and headed up a weight class. At UFC 291, he faced former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz and won this close fight on points. In November 2023, he defeated Jiří BJP Prochazka at UFC 295, becoming only the 10th fighter in history to be UFC champion in two different weight classes.

We wish for Jiří to get the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship belt back to him after this fight.