After suffering consecutive losses to Alex Pereira at light heavyweight, Jiri Prochazka is looking to move down to middleweight. The former light heavyweight champion, in an interview recorded before UFC 305 but released today, had claimed that he will move to the 185-pound division if Dricus Du Plessis defeats Israel Adesanya in their middleweight title bout. And since ‘DDP’ indeed did defeat ‘Izzy’ with a spectacular rear-naked choke hold, it seems ‘BJP’ will change weight classes.

“I’ve been considering that if Adesanya wins, I’ll stay in the light heavyweight division. But if Du Plessis wins, I’ll follow him. I’ll clear things up a bit there and take the belt. But I feel good and strong in the light heavyweight division, even though the guys there are a bit heavier, almost all of them,” Prochazka said on his official YouTube channel.

But not just move down and fight anyone. ‘The Czech Samurai’ is clear- he wants to fight Du Plessis for the 185-pound gold! Lest he be accused of being scared and running away  from the 205-pound division, the Czech clarified in the same video that he had ‘no problem’ in dealing with his fellow light heavyweights.

Which does seem true since no one except Alex Pereira has been able to beat him at 205 so far. But it seems he wants to take a breather from light heavyweight, try and win the middleweight title, and then move up and challenge for the 205-pound title, which he once held.

“So I have to say that I have no problem physically and strength-wise, or in any way, with clearing them out. But it would certainly be a challenge for me to go for the belt in the 84 kg [185-pound middleweight] division, and then move up, but I’ll really let it flow and see how it unfolds,” he added. This of course raises one very important question.

Why does Jiri Prochazka want to face ‘DDP’ and not ‘Izzy’?

Why Prochazka has said that he will go to middleweight only if Du Plessis wins and not Adesanya remains unknown. But it may have something to do with ‘DDP’ being a brawler, not afraid to take a few blows if he can give his own, just like Prochzaka himself fights. On the other hand, ‘Izzy’ is a very different type of fighter

Israel Adesanya is a sniper, who relies on his incredible speed and accuracy to mostly counter his opponents. This is why Prochazka, who relies on his granite chin and has a pressure-fighting, always-moving-forward style of fighting, would be an opponent the Kiwi-Nigerian would probably relish.

Also, it would be quite interesting to see how UFC CEO Dana White, who is always reluctant to let fighters change divisions feels about it. While the UFC CEO is usually very reluctant to let fighters move up, the fact that ‘BJP’ is moving down may see him not be opposed to the move. On the other hand, Prochazka is the #1 ranked 205-pounder and him moving down would be a minor earthquake not only for light heavyweight, but also middleweight, which has a veritable surfeit of title contenders at the moment.

Either way, one thing can be said for sure- a Jiri Prochazka vs. Dricus Du Plessis bout will not only be an electrifying bout, with the smart money on a knockout, but will go down very well indeed with the UFC fans. What are your thoughts on Prochazka wanting to move down and fight Du Plessis for the 185-pound title?