- Pereira and Prochazka will fight for the vacant light heavyweight championship
- Pereira makes his second appearance in the division in his 11th professional MMA fight
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
The UFC 295 main event featuring Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka for the light heavyweight title became official after both fighters successfully weighed in on Friday morning.
Pereira stepped on the scale early at 9:11 a.m. and weighed 204 pounds. Prochazka followed shortly after, weighing 204.2 pounds at 9:48 a.m.
Pereira and Prochazka will battle for a vacant title after former champion Jamahal Hill stepped down due to an Achilles tendon injury suffered during a basketball match.
Saturday’s headliner will be Pereira’s second fight in the light heavyweight division and Prochazka’s return after a 15-month absence.
“I’m so happy he’s in this weight class,” said Pereira’s coach and former light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira. “It’s more natural.”
The main event for UFC 295 became official after Pereira and Prochazka gave their thoughts on Friday
Prochazka and Pereira will fight for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title in New York City
Originally co-main event, Pereira and Prochazka became headliners after Jon Jones suffered an injury that scratched his title defense and legacy fight with Stipe Miocic.
In 2022, Pereira defeated his rival Israel Adesanya at Madison Square Garden to become UFC middleweight champion. After losing the title in their fourth meeting (second in MMA), Pereira moved up to light heavyweight and defeated another former champion, Jan Blachowicz.
A win on Saturday would make Pereira the fastest fighter to win two titles in the UFC, in just his 11th professional MMA fight.
On the other hand, Prochazka won the title against Teixeira in June 2022, but vacated it soon after due to a shoulder injury.
Despite more than a year of inactivity, Prochazka has a thirteen-fight win streak on Saturday.