Jiri Prochazka is getting his reps in against a kickboxer who owns a win over Alex Pereira, according to Bloody Elbow.
“Jiri Prochazka spars with kickboxer who beat Alex Pereira ahead of his UFC Qatar fight,” the outlet wrote on X on Sunday.
The post doesn’t name the sparring partner, and I’m not going to guess. Pereira did take losses before he became the most feared striker in the UFC. His Wikipedia entry lists a second-round TKO loss to Jason Wilnis in a 2012 It’s Showtime 85MAX title fight and a defeat to Sergej Maslobojev in the final of the 2013 W.A.K.O. World Championship at -91 kg. There’s no confirmation that either man is the one in Prochazka’s gym. The pool of people who have beaten Poatan at anything is small, though, and anyone from it is a useful body to have across the mat.
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Prochazka (32-6-1) is No. 7 at light heavyweight in Knockout Daily’s rankings. He trains out of Jetsaam Gym Brno and hasn’t fought since April 11. He’s a former UFC light heavyweight champion and the first Czech fighter to win a UFC title. Before that he was the inaugural Rizin light heavyweight champ. He started in Thai boxing after a friend showed him Ramon Dekkers tapes, so calling in a pure striker for camp tracks with how he got here.
Next up is Navajo Stirling at UFC Fight Night 294 on Nov. 21. The card is billed Prochazka vs. Stirling, and Bloody Elbow’s post places it in Qatar.
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Pereira, meanwhile, has packed up and moved to heavyweight. He’s 13-4 and ranked No. 6 there in our rankings, and he meets Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 on Dec. 12. The UFC also just released corner footage from his win over Ciryl Gane at the White House. In it, his coach Plinio Cruz can be heard calling out shots to the back of the head, which got plenty of people talking on X. Charles Oliveira likes Pereira’s chances against Pavlovich. “Sergei Pavlovich doesn’t defend against kicks, and Poatan kicks a lot,” Oliveira said, via MMA Fighting.
So Pereira is off chasing a third division while Prochazka is still fighting to climb back up the one Pereira left. Borrowing a guy who once solved Pereira’s puzzle is a smart way to stay sharp, even with Stirling as the man in front of him. Prochazka gets his answer on Nov. 21.
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