Jiri Prochazka says Khalil Rountree Jr. fight is for No. 1 contender: 'That was their word'

Yahoo

2 days ago

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka has his next assignment.
A handful of big October bouts were announced this past week, including the Oct. 4 return of Prochazka for a showdown against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 320 in Las Vegas. The UFC light heavyweight title will also be on the line in the card's main event, when champion Magomed Ankalaev rematches Alex Pereira.
Prochazka revealed Monday on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show" that he's officially set to occupy the backup fighter role should anything go awry with the Anaklaev vs. Pereira 2 headliner. As for his bout against Rountree, he expects the winner to go on and challenge whoever holds the title after UFC 310.
"It's not yet on the paper, but we are right now, that was their word," said Prochazka, who's twice challenged Pereira and twice lost by knockout to the Brazilian in the past three years.
Since his latest win over Jamahal Hill at UFC 311 in January, Prochazka has stayed mentally sharp by continuing his college studies at Masarykova Univerzita. While he remains fully committed to his fight career, the former champ was dedicated to his schoolwork throughout the past semester, claiming to turn down a title shot offer against Ankalaev within the past several months. However, having bantered back and forth online with Ankalaev, the matchup against the champion remains enticing for Prochazka.
"My hope is let the better [man] win, really," he said of Ankalaev vs. Pereira 2. "Because with Alex Pereira, there is a story [there between us] and a third fight, there's no other way to do [that] than to show the victory. With him, in a third fight, that would be great. To fight Ankalaev, it will be not just an honor, but I would like to fight Ankalaev, yeah.
"In the first [Ankalaev vs. Pereira] fight, it was the same [question that will dominate conversation for the rematch] — how good will be Alex Pereira? Because in first fight, he didn't attack too much. He [held] himself a little bit back. I think, in his best shape, he will win for sure, but let's see. Ankalaev did great work with catching hands, up and down, changing levels. He did great work with Alex."
If Prochazka wasn't getting a title fight next, he was hopeful to land Rountree instead. Unlike some of the Czech's latest foes, it's all respect for Rountree — and the matchup very easily could steal the show.
"When I met him in Vegas, he looked like an ideal opponent," Prochazka said of Rountree. "He's a normal guy, technical, strategic, very dynamic. This is the opponent who I like to face.
"I wanted to fight Ankalaev because there was a lot of trash talking after my fight, and from his side, there was a lot of not good words. But doesn't matter. This fight is about getting to the title, sure, but right now I'm really looking to show the best performance. This, for me, is the No. 1 [goal] in this game — to show the best performances. And I believe with Khalil, we can make a great fight."
Prochazka vs. Rountree will only be a three-round bout, as UFC 320 hosts two title fights above it. Regardless, as with most of his fights, Prochazka doesn't expect the matchup to go the distance.
Both men enter the Octagon fresh off victories over Hill. Prochazka put away the former champion with a third-round stoppage in a wild affair at UFC 311 to kickstart the year, while Rountree picked Hill apart for 25 minutes in a striking masterclass to win a unanimous decision this past June at UFC Baku.
Prochazka and Rountree's performances were wildly different — chaos compared to calculation.
If Prochazka has anything to say about it, he won't allow his opponent to dictate the pace in October.
"A very careful performance. Patient," Prochazka said of Rountree's latest win. "My opinion, I don't like that. I don't like that performance because he gave Jamahal too many chances to be back in the fight.
"[Rountree] had many chances to finish him decisively. That was not good. He was very patient, and what surprised me was Jamahal Hill's performance — I thought after a lot of trash talking, he would show a much better fight than he showed.
"It was strange of Khalil to let him recover and still survive the fight, and Jamahal didn't show anything, and he was still too self-confident after the fight. If you want to fight on the top level, go there and show your best, totally, [with] no regrets."