Jiri Prochazka has weighed in on the upcoming matchup between Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic.
Former light heavyweight champion Blachowicz (28-9 MMA, 11-6 UFC) meets Rakic (14-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) in a UFC Fight Night main event on May 14 where the winner could emerge as the next title contender.
Prochazka (28-3-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who challenges light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira in the UFC 275 headliner on June 11 at Singapore Indoor Stadium, gave his take on the pivotal matchup.
“I think Blachowicz is better,” Prochazka told James Lynch in a “MMA Pros Pick” segment. “He have a better skills, better focus, better hard punching, much better precision in the punches.”
Prochazka’s pick may not come as too much of a surprise as he and Rakic have been going back and forth in the past year. In a December interview with MMA Junkie, Rakic ripped Prochazka for not fighting him, claiming that a future showdown is inevitable.
But it’s Prochazka who will get a shot at gold first after just two UFC bouts. The former Rizin FF 205-pound champ took the octagon by storm when he scored brutal knockouts of Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes to earn a crack at the title.
‘He has better skills’: Jiri Prochazka predicts Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic