Alex Pereira reclaimed his light heavyweight crown by smashing Magomed Ankalaev atop the UFC 320 pay-per-view (PPV) event last Sat. night (Oct. 4, 2025) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas,
a performance that looked nothing like the 40-percent version we got at UFC 313 back in March.
Ankalaev wasn’t killed, so I guess we didn’t get 100 percent either.
That was probably the worst-case scenario for resurgent title contender, Jiri Prochazka. “BJP” won his second straight by annihilating Khalil Rountree Jr. on the UFC 320 PPV main card and had a case for challenging Magomed Ankalaev for the light heavyweight title — but not Pereira. Prochazka was finished by the Brazilian at UFC 295 and then again at UFC 303.
Not that it stopped him from shooting his shot.
“Maybe I need to be [in] a lot of chaos and there I will find the calm and the way to win,” Prochazka said after the fight. “It was a lot. I need some really dangerous opponent where I will feel the knockout from the first second so I will start 100 percent. I believe that next one will be one of these two who are fighting for the title.”
“I already offered Carlos Ulberg to fight, he turned me down to fight [Dominick] Reyes,” Prochazka added. “Believe me or not, my opponent makes my performance and I believe that will be one of these two headlining tonight in the title. My performance will be the best.”
No. 3-ranked light heavyweight contender, Carlos Ulberg, is expected to score the next crack at the 205-pound crown, based on his recent victory over Dominick Reyes and the strength of his nine-fight win streak. That said, “Black Jag” is not opposed to fighting Prochazka to settle any debate over who is the most deserving contender.
That would be a risky move for matchmakers.
“Of course, I want that title shot. But if I have to, I’ll take out the winner of Khalil and Jiri just to prove a point and leave no doubt,” Ulberg told New Zealand Herald. “We can run that fight as soon as possible. I’m the new man on the block, riding a nine-fight win streak in the UFC, fresh off a historic win last week. I’ll beat anyone they put in front of me.”
Now it’s just a question of “when?”
Pereira vs. Ulberg at the upcoming UFC White House card would be bananas; however, that would require both combatants to remain sidelined for the next eight months. UFC can keep the assembly line moving by pairing Prochazka with Ankalaev to see who stays alive in the 205-pound title hunt, but it still leaves the promotion without one if its biggest stars until next summer.
Either way, those prayers have been answered.
