Jiri Prochazka admits being "a little bit surprised" by Alex Pereira agreeing to UFC 303 clash, shares prediction for the fight

Jiri Prochazka was surprised that the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira, agreed to defend his belt at UFC 303 on short notice. The two will square off in the pay-per-view main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas this Saturday.

Prochazka and Pereira stepped in after the Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler bout fell through due to the Irishman's injury.

However, Prochazka wasn't sure if Pereira would step in to face him on short notice, especially with the belt on the line. In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, he expressed his thoughts on the Brazilian accepting the fight, saying:

''I was a little bit surprised by that, I can say yes. Because I don’t know what was the reason he said yes, if it’s money or something else, but communication with me from the UFC, they gave me some better – I don’t want to be concrete, but we negotiated about better money... So I don’t know how it was with Alex."

Predicting the outcome, he added:

"But I didn’t know about the money or whatever when I accepted [the fight], so for me this is not so important because the main point is, I will get the title and bring it back to the Czech Republic.”

Check out Jiri Prochazka's comments below (2:38:20):

Prochazka and Pereira had previously squared off at UFC 295 last year, fighting for the vacant light heavyweight title. 'Poatan' knocked out Prochazka in the second round of the pay-per-view main event and subsequently defended the belt against Jamahal Hill at UFC 300, where Prochazka returned to the win column with a TKO victory over Aleksandar Rakic.

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Jiri Prochazka explains his decision to take on Alex Pereira on short notice

Jiri Prochazka will challenge Alex Pereira for the light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 303 this weekend, marking his return to the octagon.

In the aforementioned interview, the No.1-ranked light heavyweight revealed his reasoning for accepting a title fight offer on such short notice. He said:

"It doesn't matter. Last chance, first chance, it doesn't matter. I am a yes man. I am the yes man and I believe in the chances and I believe in the spontaneous decisions."

Check out Jiri Prochazka's comments below: