Although Alex Pereira told the fans that he’s looking to make a quick turnaround after dropping the light heavyweight title at UFC 313, the rematch is set for seven months later, in October this year. Although he didn’t live up to his word, as Magomed Ankalaev expressed his openness to give ‘Poatan’ a title shot, the Brazilian is surely taking his time to work on the holes in his game ahead of the rematch at UFC 320.

Fans have been waiting for the rematch, as there are talks that Alex Pereira might jump to heavyweight soon. He’ll possibly want to get back his title if he intends to make that move, but it seems that one small slip can see him kissing his rematch goodbye. As we all know, Dana White likes to have a backup fighter prepared for such title fights and main events to avoid facing issues at the last minute.

These aforementioned issues include fighters pulling out due to injury, weight miss, or any other kind of problems. The CEO seems to have picked his backup fighter for the UFC 320 headliner as well. During a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Jiri Prochazka, who’s fighting former title contender Khalil Rountree Jr. on the same card as his former rival Alex Pereira, revealed some important facts about his role in that PPV.

Jiri Prochazka not only confirmed that he’s the back for the Pereira vs Ankalaev rematch, but also claimed that this was a part of the negotiation process with Dana White and Co. for him to fight at UFC 320. “Yeah, [I am the backup fighter]. That’s right… That was the deal with UFC. Yeah,” the former champion told Ariel Helwani.

Well, Alex Pereira will have to be on his best and not get into any issues if he doesn’t want to lose his title shot to Jiri Prochazka. In the meantime, he may want to hear what a former legend has to say about his game plan in the rematch against Magomed Ankalaev, since he got outclassed in his own game in the first fight. Here’s what he had to say.

Alex Pereira gets game plan advice from UFC legend

During a recent interview, former UFC champion and former Mayor Pro Tempore of Huntington Beach, California, Tito Ortiz, spoke about Alex Pereira and the rematch against Magomed Ankalaev. Having shown how good a striker he is in the first fight, Ortiz believes the champion is going to go all out with his wrestling this time, which is the thing that Pereira needs to be able to deal with.

“[Alex] Pereira needs to make sure that he defends the takedowns. I think this is going to be more of a wrestling match,” Tito Ortiz told Helen Yee Sports. “I think so, just because that Russian [Magomed Ankalaev], he wanted to test his skills on his feet, and he showed that he could punch with them. And I think Alex can think he’s going to do the same thing, and I think he’s actually going to wrestle him this time. That’s just me. That’s just my opinion.”

Well, besides the game plan, Alex Pereira now has to worry about staying prepared not to give Jiri Prochazka the chance to mess up his rematch plans. It will be interesting to see how things pan out for the former champions as we inch closer to UFC 320. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.