Alex Pereira is starting to look like the UFC’s most unstoppable force, as Jiří Procházka can once again testify.
The UFC light heavyweight champion defended his title against the former title holder with a brutal kick to the head before being knocked out with a few more punches on the ground, leaving Procházka barely conscious after the bout ended.
It was a repeat of the end of the first round, when Pereira leveled Procházka with a hard left with a close second to go. If there had been more than a few seconds left, the fight would have been over at that point.
The two fighters began the fight with a rather strange drama. In an interview the week of the fight, Procházka claimed that Pereira had been given an unfair advantage by “magic,” or rather the champion’s pre-fight rituals that touch on his indigenous heritage.
He requested that Pereira not use such rituals, which Pereira emphatically refused. It was with this history that the two men, both known for their personal seriousness, walked in and stared at each other for nearly five minutes before the fight.
It now looks like 2024 will go down in history as Pereira’s year. He co-mained the promotion’s stacked UFC 300 card and made the moment come true with a first-round knockout of Jamahal Hill that would have been the moment of the night if Max Holloway hadn’t gone crazy.
At UFC 303, Pereira and Procházka stepped in on two and a half weeks’ notice after Conor McGregor withdrew from the previously scheduled main event against Michael Chandler due to a broken pinky toe. Regardless of the outcome, Pereira would have received appreciation from UFC President Dana White. But to defend his title in emphatic fashion against one of the most dangerous fighters in the division is something that makes you a higher breed of champion.
The question now is what’s next for Pereira, who has taken over a previously chaotic division with victories over three former champions in Procházka, Hill and Jan Blachowicz. He could still face Magomed Ankalaev, who has a very good argument for being stripped of the title in a controversial draw with Blachowicz, but he also said through an interpreter that he plans to move up to heavyweight, with a shot at becoming the UFC’s first-three-division champion.
“I think this is in my future. I said that the last time I was here. I’ve said it many times, there didn’t seem to be much interest in the organization, but I’m here, I’m available and I Really think that’s in my future.”
The fight ended one of the most logistically chaotic cards in UFC history, with the co-main event having to be reworked four times. The result of that fight was Diego Lopes defeating Dan Ige, who came on on four hours’ notice.
Here’s how each fight played out via Yahoo Sports:
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