Jan Blachowicz thinks Jiri Prochazka should fight Aleksandar Rakic before getting title shot

Jan Blachowicz thinks Jiri Prochazka should fight at least one more time before earning a shot at his title.

Prochazka entered the UFC by storm when he picked up two vicious knockouts over Volkan Oezdemir and former title challenger Dominick Reyes and said he’s currently in talks with the UFC to serve as a backup for the upcoming light heavyweight title fight between Blachowicz (28-8 MMA, 11-5 UFC) and Glover Teixeira (32-7 MMA, 15-5 UFC), which is projected to take place in fall.

But the light heavyweight champion disagrees and thinks top-ranked contenders Prochazka and Aleksandar Rakic should vie for the No. 1 contender spot.

“I believe I beat Glover and I defend my belt again, and after that, maybe they’re gonna give me Jiri,” Blachowicz said in an interview with James Lynch. “I think he has to do one more fight against Rakic, and then we’re gonna know who’s the next contender for the belt.”

Rakic (14-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) also echoes Blachowicz’s sentiment. In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Rakic said he’d love to face Prochazka (28-3-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in a title eliminator and “stop his hype.”

Blachowicz, who’s coming off a successful title defense against formerly unbeaten middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 259 in March, also thinks there’s another contender in play that’s not being mentioned enough: Magomed Ankalaev.

“People forget about Ankalaev,” Blachowicz said. “I think he is also in the game and maybe someone from these three fighters is gonna be my next opponent after Glover.”