Anyone who watched this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night saw not only a well put together card but a clear candidate for Knockout of the Year by Jiří Procházka against former title challenger Dominick Reyes. The fight was quite competitive up until the KO in the second round, but the absolute devastation that was caused by the KO is definitely going to sit on fans minds for a while.
Procházka is a newcomer to the UFC but his career has been going for almost a decade at this point and for such a recent UFC newcomer he is making statements. He started his career in 2012 and at only 28 years old he post a 28-3-1 professional MMA record which is a large amount of fights for a short time in the cage.
Procházka started his career in his native country of the Czech Republuc before moving onto Rizin FF, which has been acclaimed by some fans and media outlets as a successor to Pride FC. Duirng his time in Rizin he was able to secure finishes over names such as Vadim Nemkov, “King” Mo Lawal, and C.B. Dolloway.
The moment that Procházka knocked out Dominick Reyes
Image: From MMAFighting
His debut for the UFC came this past July when he faced Volkan Oezdemir and finished him in round 2 with a punch just 40 seconds in. The caliber of fighter he is was on display in his two fights in the promotion so far and that is why he is already ranked and sitting within the top 5 of the weight class.
After his impressive performance against a recent title challenger to both Jon Jones and current champion Jan Blachowicz. it is difficult to not want to see the man fast-tracked to a title fight. Although this seems difficult as Jan and #1 ranked Light Heavyweight Glover Teixeira are currently being scheduled for a championship bout in September.
This means that if Procházka wants to face the winner of that he might have to wait for almost a year before stepping inside the octagon again and I am not sure if he wants to be on the shelf for an extended period of time.
I doubt he will do this as throughout his career he has been quite an active fighter, and so I foresee him taking a fight somewhere probably around August or early September so that if he does get a shot at the title he is just as fresh as the champion and not rusty.
The most logical matchup for the meteoric contender would be another man that has been destroying those in the division in Aleksander Rakić. These two men have supplied plenty of great battles for fans of Mixed Martial Arts, and a title eliminator between the two would definitely be worth while for the fans. I think this matchup presents a firefight with both men continually searching for the finish.
Its possible its recency bias but I would foresee Procházka winning this fight because this man is just an absolute animal in the cage. I honestly do not know how Jan would fare against him either as the stylistic matchup between the two is very interesting. Jan is normally someone who enjoys dictating the pace of the fight and with the unorthodox approach of Procházka I think Jan could possibly get cornered.
Procházka is hard to try and out think not only because of his movement but the man is unpredictable at setting up combinations and an opponent never know what strike is coming. Although getting a title shot in his fourth fight for the company might seem a slight bit fast tracked, its not unheard of as Brock Lesnar captured a UFC title in only his 3rd fight with the company. Procházka also has much more of a decorated career than Lesnar did, and he has put on great performances against some of the best fighters in his division.
I think Procházka is truly going to be a terrifying force in the division for a long time to come and he is certainly on the fast track to a title shot, and the way he has dominated his opponents so far I think if he fights Rakić and secures another victory that he then deserves to fight the winner of Blachowicz vs Teixeira.