Jiri Prochazka and Aleksandar Rakic are looking to fight each other, but are yet to agree on a date, with Rakic proposing February 17 and Prochazka suggesting March 9 at UFC 299.
Jiri Prochazka and Aleksandar Rakic are itching to fight. The only issue? They’ve gotta figure out when.
Rakic dropped a bit of a bombshell earlier this week. He won’t be squaring off against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 297 in January. Why? Blachowicz got injured during training. This match was supposed to be a rematch from their May 2022 face-off. Blachowicz came out on top in that one after Rakic injured his leg in the third round.
After this letdown, Rakic quickly set his sights on a new opponent. He’s eyeing Jiri Prochazka, another former light heavyweight champ. Prochazka recently missed out on a vacant title when he lost to Alex Pereira at UFC 295. Prochazka seemed open to the match on social media, but he’s booked for the Jan. 20 pay-per-view.
Prochazka tweeted, “Iam in, but the earliest time I can be in octagon is February/March. Accept? ⚡️”
Rakic suggested a Feb. 17 date. He tagged UFC CEO Dana White and matchmaker Mick Maynard in the post. But then, he seemed to get a bit antsy. He fired off another tweet on Friday, questioning Prochazka’s “samurai code.”
His tweet read, “You said February or March. I accepted and offered you Feb 17th. Now you’ve gone quiet. Where’s your Samurai code now? Sign the contract, big boy, sign the contract.”
Prochazka didn’t shy away. He responded with interest in the match and even proposed a specific date: March 9 at UFC 299. Rumor has it, this event will take place in Miami.
When Rakic does return to the ring, it’ll be his first fight since his leg injury against Blachowicz. That was more than 19 months ago. Rakic had six wins under his belt in his first seven UFC appearances before that injury.
Prochazka, on the other hand, is looking to recover from his first UFC loss and his first defeat since December 2015.
Meanwhile, Blachowicz isn’t exactly sitting this one out. He fired back at Rakic’s initial tweet with some choice words of his own.
Blachowicz wrote, “First he cries after I broke him, then he cries when I need to take care of my injury. Be happy that I will not break you this time, again. You can now go and continue to cry.”