Former middleweight champ Alex Pereira‘s announcement that he’d be moving up a weight class following his loss to Israel Adesanya had the MMA world buzzing for a while. Despite a section of the fans wanting to see a rematch between the two, the Brazilian’s decision to make a move to Light Heavyweight was welcomed by a majority of the fans and analysts alike.

With this massive step up in store for Pereira, a natural question that arises here is who will ‘Poatan’ face when he steps into the cage as a light heavyweight? Addressing these developments, Jiri Prochazka, who once held the gold at 205 lbs, opened up about the Brazilian’s chances in the division. As the 30-year-old talked about Pereira and his elite striking skills, Prochazka also shared what he felt could turn out to be ideal match-ups for the former middleweight champ.

Jiri Prochazka on who Alex Pereira should face at light heavyweight

Prochazka, who is expected to face current champ Jamahal Hill for the light heavyweight gold, implied that it wouldn’t be surprising for Pereira to get a shot at the title in the coming future. The reasoning behind that, as per the 30-year-old, was the fact that Jamahal Hill himself was ranked lower down when he got the title shot.

Stating that anything could happen in the future, Prochazka said, “…because Jamhal Hill from the fifth place, I don’t know fifth or fourth doesn’t matter, they gave him the chance to fight for the title.”

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‘Denisa’ also felt that Pereira had quite a few names who could serve as his first challenge in the 205 lbs division. Ideally, as per Prochazka, someone from the top three could be the perfect match-up for the Brazilian.

“I think somebody from second, third place in our division will fight him.” He revealed.

Prochazka on Alex Pereira as a fighter

Prochazka’s commitment to his title aspirations was also quite evident during the interview. The 30-year-old when asked about Pereira as a possible opponent down the line, expressed little interest in the fight; claiming that his focus lay on him taking the belt back from Hill.

 “I don’t want to speak about the next another fight. My mission is to take the belt that’s all,” he explained.

Although the former light heavyweight champ did go on to commend ‘Poatan’ eventually; as he pointed out the aspects of the Brazilian’s fighting style that he enjoyed. Calling him a “warrior”, Prochazka stated that it was the simplicity and preciseness of Pereira’s techniques that he liked the most.

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Ultimately, MMA fans will have to wait and watch how the division unfolds and if the stars do get aligned perfectly we might see these two warriors face off someday in the future.

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