Following his knockout loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 303, Jiri Prochazka’s head coach would tease that moving to middleweight isn’t just an option for BJP, but that it could give his career “a new restart.”
Whilst his next fight has been confirmed to take place at 205lbs, the popular Czech Samurai has now addressed speculation that he could drop down to middleweight later in 2025.
Jiri Prochazka offers update on rumored move down to middleweight
Following his rematch against ‘Poatan’ at UFC 303, Jiri Prochazka’s coach would state that BJP is “still old enough to fit relatively well into middleweight,” and that the move could mean “a new restart.”
Speaking recently via The Ariel Helwani Show, the former light heavyweight champion would admit that he’s put those plans back on the shelf as there’s one condition that needs to be met first.
“I thought about that [move to middleweight] a lot, but light heavyweight is my division, light heavyweight is my division, and I want to stay there… This is the thing, I said to myself ‘I will go to middleweight but first, I need to return to the throne of light heavyweight’.
“I know that it sounds very crazy because Alex is there and he won twice, but still I believe, and I am really open to making some big change in my life to do that, make it happen.”
Whilst Prochazka would argue that it would be “no problem” for him to drop down to 185lbs, he’d need to lose several pounds of muscle off an already-shredded physique.
“Sure, yeah, for me it would be no problem to do that… But I feel strong, I’m the guy who has one of the best physical exams in the light heavyweight [division] – I am much stronger than most guys at light heavyweight, I’m ready for that.”
In a prior interview with Sportskeeda, BJP would reaffirm that “I’ve got the power, I’ve got the strength and I have the endurance and all the abilities and everything to beat the guys in light heavyweight.
“Maybe I will jump to middleweight, maybe, but first, I said to myself I want to win the light heavyweight title. That’s all what’s on my mind right now – and win the next fight especially.”
Jiri Prochazka returns to action on ‘stacked’ UFC 311 card in January 2025
Prochazka returns to the octagon on January 18, 2025, at the Intuit Arena in Los Angeles in what’ll be a fabulous way to kickstart the new year.
The former champion will lock horns with Jamahal Hill, who is also coming off a KO loss to Alex Pereira, with both men looking to secure a rematch with Poatan in late-2025.
Pereira himself is expected to face Magomed Ankalaev in his next title defense, although Prochazka believes that there’s ‘no chance’ of the Russian capturing UFC gold.
“I think no [chance], especially if he fights like he said just in the standup, sorry [but] no… If Alex will be in the same shape like he showed in the last fight, 100% no.”
At the time of writing, Ankalaev remains ranked at #1, with Prochazka in the #2 position whilst Jamahal Hill retains his #3 spot.