In February, Dricus Du Plessis will defend his middleweight title against his staunch rival, Sean Strickland, in a highly anticipated rematch developing exactly one year after Du Plessis clinched the title from Strickland. Dana White and the UFC look to ensure the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney will be packed with an enthusiastic audience. Moreover, Alex Pereira appears to work overtime to ensure the Australian audience witnesses a memorable clash.

The light heavyweight champion of the world took to his Instagram handle to share an engrossing training video. Moments later, the fighter revealed his excitement about being in Australia.

“Happy New Year, Australia, I miss you,” said ‘Poatan’ as he reminisced about his past outings in Australia. He further added, “I hope you are all well. See you in February, Chama!” Pereira captioned the video with a direct message, “Sydney Australia, see you soon! CHAMA.” Dana White would love these two to put on an engaging battle.

It’s quite a significant announcement from the light heavyweight champion, especially considering his willingness to return to the middleweight division, since Adesanya’s loss to Du Plessis. Well, it must be noted Alex Pereira has cornered Sean Strickland on multiple occasions. Likewise, the Brazilian might be there to support his friend’s take on the South African sensation, but the reality might be different.

Alex Pereira has been a star this year. Next year brings a huge challenge: a potential title defense against Magomed Ankalaev. However, even before that, another one of his former opponents is eager to fight him for the third time, despite losing their first two encounters.

Jiri Prochazka admits he wants to clash against Alex Pereira for the third time

The saga of Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka ended when the light-heavyweight champion defeated the ‘BJP’ for the second time back in UFC 303. Jiri Prochazka is currently 0-2 against the light-heavyweight champion. But this has not stopped him from challenging him for the third time. While conversing with the media, Prochazka claimed, “I took the best from that.”

He further added, “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 do, 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.”

Notably, Pereira knocked him out in the title defense in the second round at UFC 303 shocking the MMA community. “You know, maybe I’ll sound crazy or whatever, but believe me, I’m working on [once again becoming] the champion,” Prochazka explained.

Jiri Prochazka is bracing himself to face the former light-heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill in a rather number-one contender match. Regardless, what’s your take on Alex Pereira’s career? State your thoughts in the comments below.