Jiri Prochazka wants to become UFC light heavyweight champion for a second time, and while just accomplishing that goal would be meaningful, being able to defeat the man who stopped him twice would be everything.
Prochazka is booked to face fellow-former champ Jamahal Hill in a highly-anticipated clash at UFC 311 on Jan 18 in Los Angeles. Both fighters recently were stopped by current champ Alex Pereira earlier in the year, with Prochazka suffering the fate for the second time in less than a year at UFC 303 in June. “BJP” wants to put that night behind him, but he was able to take away a lot of valuable lessons from that loss.
“I took the best from that,” Prochazka told MMA Fighting. “It was not too much about like that performance in the night, but about the preparation for that fight and I had to change many, many things. So the last few months, I really worked on that, what to, what to do, what not to do, what not to repeat. So here I am and ready for the next fight.
“Every loss, every win is the main point of the career. So every battle, doesn’t matter if it is a win. Win or lose, there is always the chance to take the best from that experience from every fight.”
Prochazka captured the title in one of the greatest UFC title fights in history, submitting Glover Teixeira in the fifth round at UFC 275 in June 2022. The former RIZIN star didn’t get the chance to defend it as an injury ahead of his scheduled rematch with Teixeira at UFC 282 six months later led to Prochazka — as the UFC put it — vacating the title, which coincidentally, was won by Hill at UFC 283 a month later.
Because Hill ended up vacating the belt due to his own injury, Prochazka stepped in to face Pereira for the vacant title at UFC 295 in November 2023, and was stopped in the second round.
As history has shown, the chances Prochazka can earn a third fight with Pereira while “Poatan” is still champion seems near-impossible. However, Prochazka believes a win over Hill could get him that chance, and that it just might be his destiny.
“You know, maybe I’ll sound crazy or whatever, but believe me, I’m working on [once again becoming] the champion,” Prochazka explained. “[The] champion right now is Alex. But right now, I’m focusing [on] what’s before me. What’s the next step? Right now, it’s Jamahal Hill. Next, we will see who will be the champion.
“If that will be Alex, for me right now — if there will be a questions about the fight with Alex — that will be for me, really, the fight for my life.”
For Prochazka, a second title reign would be the first time to do it the right way. After the all-time war with Teixeira, Prochazka just believed that being UFC champion was part of the plan, but he didn’t get to enjoy the moment like he should have.
If he gets to have Dana White wrap that championship belt around his waist as a two-time titleholder, Prochazka promises he will carry on that tradition as champion the way he was supposed to.
“Maybe first time, when I won, I didn’t really realize that it was a big, a big thing in my life, and I was not so — like I say — grateful for that,” Prochazka said. “I took that like, automatically, I will be the champion. OK, I’m the champion, and that’s all, yeah. I [didn’t have] these feelings to be humble, grateful in that.
“So I said to myself, ‘I want to go this way one more time,’ not just one more time, but I want to go there, take this belt, take that position of the best man in the light heavyweight [division], and one more time, but grateful. Be humble. And really appreciate that moment. Really appreciate the life that gave you this chance to fight for that again. And right now, I’m in this process. This is what I feel right now.”
