Jiri Prochazka is interested in conquering another weight class after reclaiming his light heavyweight title.
“BJP” just got back on the winning track at UFC 300, knocking out Aleksandar Rakic and claiming a $300,000 performance bonus. He has his sights firmly set on fighting Alex Pereira again, who beat him at Madison Square Garden in November 2023. And then after that?
“Rather than heavyweight, I thought I’d try middleweight,” Prochazka said in a recent interview.
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“Because 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,” he said. “But I would definitely concentrate on that after winning the light heavyweight title.”
At 6 ft 4 in, Jiri is no small light heavyweight. But neither was “Poatan,” and he cut down to terrorize the 185 pound division for years before finally moving up to 205. We don’t know how Prochazka’s wild style would translate down at middleweight, but then again we keep expecting it to fail at light heavyweight yet Jiri sits atop the divisional rankings at No. 1 so what do we know?
For now, Prochazka is limited in his decisions by the champ. Alex Pereira beat him just six months ago, and doesn’t seem particularly interested in a rematch. If the Czech samurai won’t move down until he captures the light heavyweight title, that could mean we won’t get to see a middleweight Jiri until sometime in 2025.
