Jiri Prochazka was happy to see Alex Pereira regain the light heavyweight title. But he was even more excited to watch Ankalaev get his comeuppance.

Moments after ‘Poatan’ pummeled Ankalaev en route to becoming a two-time titleholder at 205, the UFC 320 cameras cut to Prochazka, who was noticeably emotional.

When asked about his reaction to Pereira’s epic 80-second knockout, ‘BJP’ revealed that while he was happy to see ‘Poatan’ succeed in the rematch, it was his disdain for Ankalaev that nearly brought him to tears.

“I was really happy seeing Alex win. Lose, win, lose—whatever,” Prochazka said during the UFC 320 post-fight press conference. “But Alex and his team, Glover, Teixeira, all these guys, we have good relationship with them, like with my team, and I really wished him to win because all these, all these bushes what Ankalaev wrote before and all the all these nonsenses what he thought about himself, myself, about others. So, so that was why I was happy. Yeah.

“Because I saw really angry Alex going forward through Ankalaev. And that was something what I needed to be in my fight too—like more pressure. Yeah.”

Prochazka and Ankalaev went toe-to-toe on social media not long after the Dagestani upset Pereira in March to kickstart his abbreviated title run. As a fighter who often refrains from unnecessary trash-talk, the incident with Ankalaev clearly rubbed Prochazka the wrong way.

Jiri Prochazka is ready for a threequel against ‘Poatan’

Furthermore, Pereira’s win in Las Vegas helped to paint a clearer picture regarding where Prochazka stands in the division.

“I was so emotional because, in that moment, I really realized that Pereira won and there is a potential fight between me and him,” Prochazka added. “That means there is a third fight. Third chance for me to be successful. I deeply realized, ‘Man, this is something you have to win, or nothing.’ That will be the biggest challenge of my life.

“F***, man, I really want to win. I know I’m taking a lot of risks in my fights, but I know I will find a way.”

Prochazka has already lost twice to Pereira, both by knockout, making a third meeting between the two a pretty hard sell. But if Pereira makes the move to heavyweight, it could leave Prochazka with an opportunity to claim the crown, assuming Pereira vacates the title to try and conquer a third division.

Craig Pekios

Craig Pekios is a freelance writer born and raised in Bettendorf, IA. Joining LowKick MMA in May 2022, Craig has more than 4,000 articles published that focus on the world of MMA and boxing, including news, event previews, results, analysis, and op-eds.