"I think we caught him off guard” - Alex Pereira reveals what happened when he suggested Abu Dhabi date for Jiri Prochazka fight

Alex Pereira is set to take on former champion Jiri Prochazka for the light heavyweight title in the co-main event of UFC 295 in November.

The fight is less than two months away, meaning that 'Poatan' will have competed three times in the space of seven months, should he make it to fight night against Prochazka.

Alex Pereira's uptick in activity is all the more impressive given that he was knocked out cold by Israel Adesanya at UFC 287 in April. 'Poatan' bounced back from his title defeat with a victory over former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291.

Pereira will now face a former UFC champion for the fourth consecutive fight when he faces off against Jiri Prochazka in two months.

But according to the Brazilian, he initially asked for the fight to take place in October at UFC 294, slated to be headlined by the rematch between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira. Alex Pereira recently shared his thoughts on his upcoming title bout and revealed Prochazka's reaction to a potential Abu Dhabi matchup:

"We proposed a date in Abu Dhabi, just a couple of months after my last fight, and my managers got in touch with the organization. We waited a few days for a response, they got back to us saying that Jiri wasn't ready yet. Man, I think we caught him off guard. I'm not saying this in a bad way, we're talking about a guy that means busines, everyone sees that... I reckon Jiri was caught off guard and said no..."

Watch the video below from 0:50:

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Anthony Smith and Alex Pereira trade words online

Anthony Smith recently took on Alex Pereira's coach and friend, Glover Teixeira, in a grappling match at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4. Now the former middleweight champion has dared 'Lionheart' to take him on under the same ruleset.

The pair have previously gone back and forth after 'Poatan' blasted Smith for what the Brazilian felt was unwarranted criticism coming from the direction of 'Lionheart'.

Pereira recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the following, calling Smith out to a grappling match:

"Date: Whenever he has the courage"

Anthony Smith responded to Alex Pereira's provocation during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, where he said this:

"I think he's just taking jabs. You know how it is Ariel, in this media world, it doesn't have to be true. You just have to convince people that it's true... I would grapple him in my front yard right now. It doesn't matter. I would smoke him in a grappling match."

Watch the video below: