Jiri Prochazka is always prepared.
That mindset has come in handy for Prochazka, who has a chance to regain the light heavyweight title when he rematches Alex Pereira at UFC 303 in Las Vegas this Saturday. Prochazka lost via TKO to Pereira in their first fight in November 2023, but he rebounded with a knockout of Aleksandar Rakic to keep his place in the contenders’ line.
Though Prochazka and Pereira were likely to cross paths sometime this year (according to Prochazka, there had been talks for the rematch to take place in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 26 or Aug. 18 in Australia), it came as a surprise to many when they were announced as the new headliner for UFC 303 following Conor McGregor’s injury withdrawal from the originally scheduled main event opposite Michael Chandler.
Prochazka himself still isn’t sure why Pereira agreed to defend the title on short notice.
“I was a little bit surprised by that, I can say yes,” Prochazka said on The MMA Hour. “Because I don’t know what was the reason he said yes, if it’s money or something else, but communication with me from the UFC, they gave me some better—I don’t want to be concrete, but we negotiated about better money. So I don’t know how it was with Alex.”
“But I didn’t know about the money or whatever when I accepted [the fight], so for me this is not so important because the main point is to get the title and to bring it back to Czech Republic,” Prochazka added.
Prochazka has kept busy for the better part of the last decade, fighting 15 times since 2016 and losing just once during that stretch. He defeated Pereira’s mentor Glover Teixeira for a vacant UFC light heavyweight title in 2022, but never got the chance to defend it after a shoulder injury led to him relinquishing the belt.
The 31-year-old is eager to make up for lost time and welcomes any short-notice opportunity that comes his way.
“I believe in that,” Prochazka said. “I was born like a warrior—not I believe in that, I am the warrior and this is just about when the situation and the things around you come like that, you have to just say yes. To react to what happened. Because when something happens on the street, you need to react right now. Right here, right now. That’s what I like about short notice, because you have to react right now, right here. Show me your best right now. That’s all.”
The only setback Prochazka has seen in the cage in recent years came at the hands of Pereira when they fought at UFC 295. Pereira won a vacant title after hurting Prochazka with strikes late in the second round, but there was some controversy around the stoppage as it was unclear how close Prochazka was to actually being finished.
Asked if Saturday’s main event is his chance for revenge, Prochazka offered a semantic counter.
“Not just a chance,” Prochazka said. “I will win the fight. I will win the fight and I believe in that and I will do that, that’s all. I will not step into a fight where I don’t believe in that, in myself. I already accept that I will do everything and right now is the great chance to show that.”
Prochazka has become as well-known for his stoic persona as he has his thrilling battles, with little known about his life outside of fighting. When Prochazka posts to social media, it is often about his unorthodox training and preparation.
The light heavyweight contender assures fans that he is a rounded human being, but as long as he is competing, he has a sole focus, one that has enriched his life as a whole.
“I just accept this lifestyle and I promise to myself I will do everything to achieve the mastery,” Prochazka said. “To be the master of my field and that’s something that is in my mind. That’s me, that’s my soul, that’s my lifestyle, so that’s why I’m doing that. That’s why I have to wake up in the morning and go run and then meditate, because when you really realize-and that’s the game changer in my life—when you realize you are just a consciousness and how clear is that consciousness, this quality of the consciousness will be the quality of your life. Then, when you realize this, you will start to eat cleaner, to speak cleaner, to have more good relationships with your friends, with a girlfriend, with your family, and you will just naturally start to be a good person-not start to be a good person, everybody’s a good person. Just sometimes we don’t see that because everybody, we have that good inside ourselves.
“That’s why I have no opponent in this world because it’s only one opponent in there, it’s here, and that’s my ego. That’s something that is still keeping the passivity for what we want, we don’t want to do that, but once you accept the way of the warrior, not just to be the fighter but inside warrior, to fight your weaknesses, then everything changes.”