"He's the king of the light-heavyweight division" - Jiri Prochazka talks about a potential fight with Jon Jones
Jiri Prochazka has opened up on a potential fight between him and former UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Prochazka is 2-0 in the UFC so far, with his most recent fight seeing him score a second-round KO win over Dominick Reyes at UFC on ESPN: Reyes vs. Prochazka.
In a recent interview with RT Sport MMA, Jiri Prochazka opened up on multiple topics, including Dominick Reyes and Jon Jones. On being asked whether he feels sorry that Jon Jones isn’t in the light heavyweight division right now, Jiri Prochazka stated:
“That’s a good question because he’s the king of the light-heavyweight division, yeah. And I think he will be the greatest opponent in the light-heavyweight division for me. But he’s now in heavyweight. So, what now? Yeah, I’m a little bit sorry. I’m sorry for that. But I think when he will be in light-heavyweight, that will be more dangerous for everybody.”
The interviewer then noted what Jiri Prochazka was insinuating; the fact that Jon Jones fighting at light-heavyweight would be better for the division. Prochazka replied to this assertion by saying:
“Yeah, but I think he hasn’t the motivation anymore for light-heavyweight. And he needs some change in the fighting lifestyle or whatever.”
The Czech MMA star, known by fans as ‘Denisa’, also addressed the UFC 247 fight between Jones and Reyes, which saw the champion win via unanimous decision and successfully defend his UFC light-heavyweight title.
“If you want to take a title and take a title, you need to beat this holder of title definitively, like KO or TKO. And that Dominick didn’t do. So, I think that fight (Jon Jones vs. Dominick Reyes), it was close, but it was right to Jones to win that fight," said Prochazka.
“His performance (Reyes) in this fight was much better than Jones. But to beat the champion, you need to knock him down – Because Jon Jones wins all the fights, lasts all his fights," added Prochazka.” (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
Jiri Prochazka feels that if Dominick Reyes had beaten Jon Jones, perhaps via KO or TKO, he would have deserved to be awarded the UFC light-heavyweight title.
Prochazka also alluded to Jones’ recent performances. He opined that Jones simply used minimal activity, great defense, and controlled the movement in the fight to successfully defend his title.
Jiri Prochazka aims to win the UFC light-heavyweight title
The general consensus in the MMA community is that Jiri Prochazka or Aleksandar Rakic could fight the winner of the UFC 266 title fight between reigning UFC light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz and challenger Glover Teixeira.
Jiri Prochazka has repeatedly asserted that his goal is to continually evolve as a martial artist. Many in the MMA world believe that Prochazka is likely to capture the coveted UFC light-heavyweight title sooner rather than later.
On the other hand, Jon Jones vacated the UFC light-heavyweight title in August of 2020 and is set to make his debut in the UFC heavyweight division this year.
Jones is expected to fight current UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou for the title. ‘Bones’ has claimed that he intends to win the heavyweight title and cement his legacy as the MMA GOAT.