UFC Champion Jiri Prochazka reveals why he wouldn't want to fight Israel Adesanya
With his light heavyweight title defense just one month away, Jiri Prochazka has his full attention on Glover Teixeira. However, he insisted an Israel Adesanya fight super-fight wouldn't interest him in the future.
Jiri Prochazka has captured fans' attention with his unusual personality and unique striking since arriving in the UFC. Before earning the 205lb title, the Czech delivered back-to-back devastating knockouts of Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes, with the latter earning him knockout of the year honors.
While sitting down with the media to answer questions ahead of his fight next month, Jiri Prochazka dismissed the possibility of him facing Israel Adesanya due to them sharing a management team.
"The fight with Izzy? I'm not interested in this fight because, like you said, we are sharing the management and the people around [us]. [But] I respect him."
Israel Adesanya is set to defend his middleweight title this weekend in his highly-anticipated clash against the dangerous Alex Pereira, a man who has beaten him twice during their time in kickboxing.
Despite approaching arguably the biggest fight of his combat sports career, the 185lb king has expressed an interest in once again attempting to move up in weight and testing himself at 205lbs.
'The Last Stylebender' has previously tried to compete at light heavyweight in hopes of claiming a second UFC title but fell short after a strong grappling display from then-champion Jan Blachowicz.
Check out what Jiri Prochazka had to say about a potential fight with Israel Adesanya in the video below:
Who could Israel Adesanya fight in his second spell at light heavyweight?
If the champion is off limits, Israel Adesanya will need to pick out of one of the numerous rising stars and veterans at 205lbs, but who would make the most sense for the masterful striker?
Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev are preparing to collide on December 10. While it is seen as a title eliminator bout, the winner could lock horns with the current middleweight champion. Aleksander Rakic and Jamahal Hill are two strikers who will bring the fight to Adesanya and really test whether the Nigerian is ready to compete with those in the weight class.
While it may be some time before he makes the step up, the 33-year-old could well insert himself into the greatest of all-time conversations if he manages to become a two-division world champion.