Jiri Prochazka is not interested in discussing Alex Pereira, Khamzat Chimaev, or anything beyond Saturday night’s UFC 327 light heavyweight title fight against Carlos Ulberg. The former champion made his focus clear when speaking with MMA Fighting ahead of the bout, shutting down any line of conversation that did not involve his immediate opponent.
“Just Saturday night,” Prochazka said. “After that fight, we can speak about the next options. But right now, the title fight is here. All what I’ve worked on is right now, right here. This is the week.” When pressed further about potential future matchups, he was equally direct. “No, there is no other things. No other opponents. F–k the others. There is just me and my art and what I want to show. This is all.”
What Prochazka was willing to discuss was the timeline that led him to this point. Pereira vacated the light heavyweight championship to move to heavyweight, where he is scheduled to face Ciryl Gane at the UFC White House card in June. Despite the move catching many by surprise publicly, Prochazka says he saw it coming well in advance and had already begun preparing before the UFC made anything official.
“I saw that coming,” Prochazka said. “We spoke with UFC about this a long time before it happened. We knew that with my team a long time before it happened. I prepared myself one and a half months before it was announced to everyone that I will have to fight with Carlos Ulberg.”
That preparation included a month of high-altitude training in Mexico City. “First month was just I believed that will happen. Then we transferred to Mexico City for high altitude training, we trained there for one month and we came back and then UFC told me ‘you will have the title fight.'”
Saturday’s fight carries personal stakes beyond the championship. Prochazka’s daughter is expected to be born very soon. He has not let that distract him, but he has not ignored it either.
“Yes, I come with that but also, I am ready to do anything for a win on Saturday night,” Prochazka said. “It’s not counting the days after Saturday night but it’s about to be fully focused for Saturday night and be here and now and do my best on Saturday night. Win the belt, go home and see how my daughter will be born.”
