Aleksandar Rakic may not be getting Jiri Prochazka next, but he expects to see him down the line.
After campaigning to face Prochazka in a No. 1 contender fight, Rakic (14-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) ended up drawing former champion Jan Blachowicz (28-9 MMA, 11-6 UFC) in the main event of UFC Fight Night on March 26, which takes place in Columbus, OH.
Prochazka (28-3-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who served as a backup for the light heavyweight title fight between Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira at UFC 267, is now expected to face newly crowned champion Teixeira in 2022. Rakic may not have gotten his desired matchup, but he’s equally as happy to draw ex-light heavyweight champ Blachowicz.
“I got Jan Blachowicz for the next opponent, he’s a former champion, he’s No. 1 ranked so he’s a great matchup,” Rakic told MMA Junkie. “He’s a great martial artist, and I’m happy to get this fight and fight against one of the best in the world. About Jiri, I cannot take this clown seriously you know. I don’t care about him. My focus is on Jan Blachowicz and on March 26 and I don’t care about this guy.”
Rakic is coming off back-to-back wins over former title challengers Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos. With Blachowicz as his next opponent, Rakic put the idea of fighting Prochazka to rest, but thinks they’re bound to cross paths at some point.
“For sure I’m going to fight him in the future,” Rakic said. “We are both young, we are at the top of the division. He’s going to probably fight against Glover. I still don’t know when they’re going to fight – I don’t care basically, but for sure we’re going to fight someday. But now I close the book with this guy. I don’t care about him and this fake samurai sh*t that he’s doing and just focusing on Jan Blachowicz. My goal is to stay active and this was not so possible this year, but finally I got the opportunity to fight again and that’s for the No. 1 contender to fight next for the belt.”
Aleksandar Rakic rips ‘clown’ Jiri Prochazka for not fighting him, says future meeting is inevitable
