History Could Be Made This Weekend

Hell Hath No Fury Like An Alex Pereira Scorned

Alex Pereira’s scheduled collision with Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 is hella significant.

And not just because it’s now by default the most compelling drawcard after the scrapping of Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic due to the former’s pectoral injury.

If the Brazilian kickboxer-turned-mixed-martial-artist succeeds against the ex-light heavyweight champ this weekend, it’ll be unprecedented.

Why?

Because claiming the vacant UFC light heavyweight title will mean that Alex Pereira has become a (non-simultaneous) two-division champion in two separate sports… inside of three f**king years. Who does that?! Absolutely nobody, that’s who.

The vacant light heavyweight throne has resembled more of a musical chair lately. Fun fact: when The Beatles wrote ‘The Long & Winding Road,’ they were actually writing about this protracted s**tshow.

Since the upset victory of Pereira’s then-42-year-old teammate/mentor, Glover Texeira, against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 267, nobody has managed to successfully defend their belt.

After dominating on the feet for the majority of the bout, in a disastrous scramble, Texeira found himself on the business end of a rear-naked choke being applied by Jiri Prochazka at UFC 275.

Then came a plot twist: Prochazka would be forced to vacate the title due to what was “one of the worst shoulder injuries” ever witnessed by a veteran UFC doctor, according to UFC President Dana White.

Blachowicz and one Magomedov Ankalaev would contest to become king of the light heavyweights at UFC 282, where it controversially resulted in a snore-worthy draw. Meaning nobody was crowned.

In desperate need of a top dog for everyone else to target, the promotion offered Glover Texeira another shot at gilded glory, this time against rising star Jamahal Hill at UFC 283. Hill would prevail, Texeira would retire.

But six months later, Hill would also vacate the title due to an Achilles tendon rupture. Which brings us to now…

Make no mistake: the headlining fight of UFC 295 is not going the distance. And on the off chance it does, we’re in for an absolute dogfight of bloody, lifespan-shortening proportions.

While it’s almost a given that rostered athletes in this very division pack some serious power behind their punches, both Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira are particularly renowned for their “death touch” potential. Although their roads to victory are quite different.

Given his Glory Kickboxing background, Pereira is naturally the more surgical of the two. During recent encounters with career nemesis and former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, however, it’s become clear he has something of a blindspot when it comes to defence — seldom moving his head away from the centreline and leaving himself exposed when he aggressively swarms for the kill.

If he can pinpoint his strikes with enough accuracy and stuff the takedowns, the belt is as good as his.

Prochazka, on the other hand, is even more reckless on his feet. In fact, that’s actually giving him too much credit. In the words of Sydney’s Open Sparring striking expert/proprietor and a friend of BH, Jordan Ly: “… don’t fight like Jiri, this guy always eats s**t before lucking out a finish.”

As was the case with the Texeira bout at UFC 275.

What “Denisa” has in his wonderful bag of tricks is the element of unconventionally and awkwardness — which Sean Strickland proved is extremely underrated at Sydney’s UFC 293 — and far superior grappling.

If Alex Pereira finds himself swimming on the canvas against someone with the technical upper hand, it could very well be an early night for everyone involved. Let’s just hope Prochazka’s shoulder actually holds up.

Either way… we’re in for a banger that almost (almost) makes up for missing out on Jon Jones’ rumoured retirement fight. At least if you aren’t one of these poor schmucks who mortgaged their house to cop front-row tickets a Madison Square Garden.

25 minutes for the rest of your life.

Three years for immortality.

The Hollywood blockbuster practically pens itself.

The world watches on eagerly. Give us something epic to cheer about, fellas.

ICYMI: The Friday Round-Up

Upcoming Events

• November 12th [10 AM AEST]
  UFC 295: Jiri Prochazka vs Alex Pereira
  Madison Square Garden, New York | US

• November 18th [9 AM AEST]
  Bellator 301: Yaroslav Amosov vs Jason Jackson
  Wintrust Arena, Chicago | US

• November 19th [6 AM AEST]
  UFC Fight Night: Brendan Allen vs Paul Craig
  UFC APEX, Las Vegas | US

• November 25th [10:30 AM AEST]
  2023 PFL World Championship
  The Anthem, Washington | US

• December 9th [4:00 AM AEST]
  2023 PFL Europe Championship
  3Arena, Dublin | Ireland

• December 9th [8:00 PM AEST]
  UFC Fight Night: Shanghai
  Shanghai Indoor Stadium, Shanghai | China

• December 17th [10:00 AM AEST]
  UFC 296: Leon Edwards vs Colby Covington
  T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas | US

• January 21st, 2024 [TBA]
  UFC 297: Sean Strickland vs Dricus du Plessis
  TBA | US

• February 18th, 2024 [TBA]
  UFC 298: Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria
  TBA | US

• March 10th, 2024 [TBA]
  UFC 299: Sean O’Malley vs Marlon Vera
  TBA | US