2x UFC Champ Predicts Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka
Former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo has made his pick for the light heavyweight title bout between Jiří Procházka and Alex Pereira that headlines UFC 295 this weekend.
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The UFC 295 main event was originally supposed to see Jon Jones defend his heavyweight title for the first time against former two-time champion Stipe Miocic before “Bones” suffered an injury and was forced to withdraw from the card.
The co-main event between Procházka and Pereira was promoted to the headlining slot following Jones’ injury, and now Cejudo has revealed which fighter he thinks will win the vacant light heavyweight belt at Madison Square Garden.
Procházka previously won the light heavyweight belt at UFC 275.
(Paul Miller/USA TODAY Sports)
“Jiří’s been out for a very, very long time,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “But I’ve coached him, and I do believe that he does have a self-belief. I do believe that if he’s able to bring the wrestling in with the tricky feet and be able to cover distance, stay away from that left hook, stay away from that leg kick and use some of that wrestling like he did against Glover Teixeira, I could see him winning.”
Procházka was scheduled to meet Glover Teixeira in a rematch at UFC 282, but unfortunately a shoulder injury pulled the 31-year-old from the event and he decided to vacate his light heavyweight title rather than hold up the division.
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The Czech fighter appeared poised to lose a decision against Teixeira at UFC 275 before he pulled off a dramatic submission with less than 30 seconds left, and Procházka’s performance in that fight has apparently convinced Cejudo that he'll also defeat Teixeira's teammate Pereira at UFC 295.
Pereira made his light heavyweight debut in July.
(Jeff Swinger/USA TODAY Sports)
“If I had to put my money – because I know him – because I know Jiří Procházka, and I know what he’s been about. And I didn’t like at first at the beginning, I didn’t like the game plan with Glover. But when he was able to execute that, there’s a self-belief to him that makes this dude dangerous.”
The main event between Procházka and Pereira won’t be the only title fight at UFC 295 this Saturday. Following the loss of the Jones vs. Miocic matchup, the UFC moved quickly to book an interim heavyweight title bout between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich that will serve as the night’s co-main event.
Procházka will certainly be eager to reclaim the title that he never actually lost when he steps into the cage at Madison Square Garden, but against Pereira he'll be tasked with defeating a fighter that previously held multiple kickboxing titles as well as the UFC middleweight belt.
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