Jiri Prochazka is always prepared.

That mindset has come in handy for Prochazka, who has a chance to regain the light heavyweight title when he rematches Alex Pereira at UFC 303 in Las Vegas this Saturday. Prochazka lost via TKO to Pereira in their first fight in November 2023, but he rebounded with a knockout of Aleksandar Rakic to keep his place in the contenders’ line.

Though Prochazka and Pereira were likely to cross paths sometime this year (according to Prochazka, there had been talks for the rematch to take place in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 26 or Aug. 18 in Australia), it came as a surprise to many when they were announced as the new headliner for UFC 303 following Conor McGregor’s injury withdrawal from the originally scheduled main event opposite Michael Chandler.

Prochazka himself still isn’t sure why Pereira agreed to defend the title on short notice.

“I was a little bit surprised by that, I can say yes,” Prochazka said on The MMA Hour. “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.”

“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 to get the title and to bring it back to Czech Republic,” Prochazka added.

Prochazka has kept busy for the better part of the last decade, fighting 15 times since 2016 and losing just once during that stretch. He defeated Pereira’s mentor Glover Teixeira to win the UFC light heavyweight title in 2022, but never got the chance to defend it after a shoulder injury led to him relinquishing the belt.

The 31-year-old is eager to make up for lost time and welcomes any short-notice opportunity that comes his way.

“I believe in that,” Prochazka said. “I was born like a warrior—not I believe in that, I am the warrior and this is just about when the situation and the things around you come like that, you have to just say yes. To react to what happened. Because when something happens on the street, you need to react right now. Right here, right now. That’s what I like about short notice, because you have to react right now, right here. Show me your best right now. That’s all.”