Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka is eyeing a surprising move to the middleweight division – but only after he reclaims the 205-pound title first.
Prochazka returned to action at UFC 300 on April 13th, defeating #5 ranked Aleksandar Rakic by emphatic second-round knockout. With this victory, the Czech star put himself in line for another shot at current light heavyweight king Alex Pereira, whom he lost the vacant title to last year.
However, in a recent interview, the 31-year-old Prochazka revealed his desire to eventually drop down to the 185-pound middleweight class once he accomplishes his goal of regaining the light heavyweight strap.
“Rather than heavyweight, I thought I’d try middleweight,” Prochazka stated. “Because of the way I feel my metabolism now, and the way my body works in preparation, I know that if I adjust my diet to where I feel great and clean, I know I could handle the middleweight division, with some lighter diet. But I would definitely concentrate on that after winning the light heavyweight title.”
It’s an unorthodox plan in a sport where most fighters tend to move up in weight class as they get older. But the confident Prochazka feels getting down to middleweight would be ideal for his body and performance.
Of course, his first order of business is securing a rematch with the dangerous Pereira, who brutalized former champion Jamahal Hill at UFC 300. When asked about facing Pereira again, Prochazka didn’t mince words:
“As soon as possible. If that will be for a title with Alex [Pereira], I am open to taking a date in Brazil… Yeah, like in two weeks,” he said. “I had a full training camp before this fight and this training camp was much more; for me, it was like [laughs] I trained much more [against Rakic] than for the fight with Pereira.”
A fired-up Prochazka is champing at the bit to run it back with Pereira for the light heavyweight crown. And if victorious, an audacious attempt to conquer the middleweight division could be next on his agenda.