UFC 303 was supposed to be Conor McGregor‘s comeback bout. However, with the Irishman out of his main event bout with Michael Chandler on June 29, the headlining duties fell to light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and former champion Jiri Prochazka.

One of the things that are features of any McGregor fights is the electric press conferences. But despite the superstar Irishman’s absence, the pre-fight press conference for UFC 303 did not lack fireworks. Jiri Prochazka, the Czech Samurai ha accused Alex Pereira of doing “rituals” before fights to win them, and Poatan Pereira was asked about the Czech’s comments in the press conference. To this, the reigning 205-pound champ simply said “I think everyone has a spirit,” and if Prochazka “hasn’t found his spirit yet, not my fault.”

‘BJP’ immediately jumped in following Pereira’s comments to clarify his statement, saying that he was talking about alleged ‘dirty practices’ that Pereira uses to call on spirits to help him win fights and not about ‘spirit’ in the sense of self-confidence.

“Sorry this is not the question about like do I believe I have self-confidence. I’m 100% self confident. But this is the speak about some dirty practice and all these things behind them. I just want to keep that in the clear way. That’s all. That’s what I’m talking about. In his [God’s] name,” he told reporters.

Most, of course, have not taken Prochazka’s comments about Pereira using ‘magic’ to win fights very seriously. However, the subject seems like no joking matter to the former champion, who is a believer in spiritual and occult powers. And that perhaps is why he thinks he lost their first fight, which wasn’t free of controversy.

Why did some feel Jiri Prochakza’s first loss against Alex Pereira was controversial

Jiri Prochazka faced Alex Pereira for his old title, which he had;t lost in the octagon at the top of UFC 295 last November. And their fight was every bit as explosive as expected. Things were going well for ‘BJP, until he caught one of ‘Poatan’s legendary lefts around the fourth-minute mark of the second round.

The blow sent Prochazka crashing to the ground, seemingly out on his feet. But the ever-tenacious former champ held on to Pereira’s knees on the way down, seemingly going for a takedown. This allowed the champ to start raining elbows on the rocked Czech, until referee Marc Goddard stepped in to stop the fight.

However, since Prochazka was still struggling when the fight was called off, some fans felt that the fight had been stopped too early. Ever the sportsman, ‘BJP’ made a video soon after, clearing Marc Goddard of any wrongdoing and vowing he will be back. And back in the octagon with Pereira he will be this Saturday. Whether or not Pereira uses the alleged spirits in the fight or what the result will be even if he does remains to be seen. What are your predictions for UFC 303?