Former light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochaska will return to UFC 300 and headline the preliminary card. The biggest card in UFC history will be decided at his T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and from there, Prochaska will begin his descent towards his third UFC title win.
Let's not forget that the 31-year-old is a former regional champion and has only lost in the UFC to current champion Alex Pereira (ironically, the UFC 300 headliner). By then, he had one of the most memorable three-fight winning streaks in UFC history.
He made his debut against former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir, scoring a big win in the second round and earning the winning performance of the night. The Czech Republic native then headlined a fight card against Dominick Reyes, another former title challenger. After an exciting first round and a half, Prochaska recorded (another) performance of the night with a spinning elbow KO win. This fight also earned him Fight of the Night honors, proving just how entertaining it was.
His title fight against Glover Teixeira was then held in Singapore. In one of the best title fights we've ever had the pleasure of watching, Prochaska successfully wrested the belt from his Brazilian opponent. The match once again earned Fight of the Night honors and also allowed Prochaska to walk away with the belt.
Unfortunately for the former RIZIN light heavyweight champion, he suffered an injury in preparation for his rematch with Teixeira and decided to relinquish the belt and allow the division to continue without him.
Upon his return, he would lose the vacated title fight to Alex Pereira (Jamahal Hill beat Teixeira and withdrew due to injury), but now he wants to get it back.
Austria's Aleksandar Rakić stands on the road to Prochaska
Opposite Prochaska at UFC 300 will be Austrian light heavyweight and perennial title contender Aleksandar Rakic. Rakic is 14-3 with only two losses in the UFC. He lost to Oezdemir by split decision in December 2019 and lost by TKO to former champion Jan Blachowicz in his last fight. However, Rakic was injured in this match, so there is an asterisk next to him. Rakic, who injured his knee three weeks before the fight, tore his ACL during the match and was unable to continue.
A win over the former champion would do wonders for Prochaska for Rakic. He has not competed since losing to Blachowicz in May 2022, and UFC 300 will mark the longest gap between fights in his career. He has not won since March 2021, when he defeated former title challenger Thiago Santos by decision, and will be itching to raise his hand again.
If Rakic doesn't get fooled by Prochaska's strange style and can keep his cool in the moment and get the win, we could see him in a title fight towards the end of the year. He will have to overcome the extremely difficult task of defeating former champion Prochaska, who is also hungry to make amends for his loss to Alex Pereira.
This match will headline the tentative second leg of the stacked card.
