Iri Prochaska was pleased to see Alex Pereira regaining the light heavyweight title. However, he was even more excited to see Ankaraev turn around.
Shortly after “Poatan” defeated Ankaraev on his way to becoming a two-time title holder at the age of 205, the UFC 320 camera cut into a pro-chazka who was significantly more emotional.
When asked about Pereira’s response to his epic 80-second knockout, the “BJP” revealed that he was happy to see “Poatan” succeed in the rematch, but that he almost cried because of his contempt for Ankaraev.
“I was really happy to see Alex win. Whether you lose, win or lose, whatever,” Prochaska said at a post-UFC 320 press conference. “But Alex and his team, Glover, Teisheira, they all, we have a good relationship with them, like my team, I was really happy because Ankaraev wrote before, all these bushes, and all these nonsense was what he thought of himself, me, others, and that’s why I was happy.”
“Because I saw a really angry Alex move forward through Ankaraev. And that was something I needed in my fight too. Like more pressure. Yes.”
Prochaska and Ankaraev faced off on social media shortened out on Dagestan’s move to win the abbreviated title in March. As a fighter who often refrains from unnecessary garbage talk, the incident with Ankaraev clearly hurt Pro Chazka in a bad way.
Iri Prochaska completes preparations for three consecutive matches against Poatan
Furthermore, Pereira’s victory in Las Vegas helped him to more clearly portray Prochaska’s position in this division.
“I was getting very emotional because at that moment I realized that Pereira had won and that there was a possibility of a fight between me and him,” Prochaska added. “I mean there’s a third fight. It’s my third chance to succeed. I deeply realized, ‘Hey, I can’t win if I don’t win.’ That’s going to be the biggest challenge in my life.
“Damn, hey, I really want to win. I know I’m taking a lot of risks in my fight, but I know I’ll always find a way.”
Prochaska has already lost twice to Pereira, and both have been defeated by KO, making it a very difficult situation to make the two matchups for the third time. However, once Pereira turns into heavyweight, assuming Pereira returns the title and aims to win three weight classes, he could still have the opportunity to claim the title to Prochaska.