Jiri Prochazka is zeroing in on a quicker start as he prepares to face Carlos Ulberg at UFC 327 on Saturday at the Kaseya Center in Miami.
Prochazka, a former UFC titleholder who has dropped two subsequent championship bids to Alex Pereira, said this camp has been all about changing his early-fight approach. “Start faster,” Prochazka said. “That means, to me, to handle all these keys, how to unlock these primal aggressions inside myself to go there to the fight to the second round, to start the first round like the second round. This is something what we, the team, are focused on – to not start slowly, (taking) too long watching the opponent. I don't like that. As soon as I can start in the fight, then I can deliver a win.”
He also expressed enthusiasm for the matchup with Ulberg. “For sure, I like this matchup because Carlos is a great standup fighter,” Prochazka said. “I like to fight in the standup or whenever we go in the fight. ... He's proved that he's a really good striker. In movement, he has really good movement, precise punches, and I think in the standup from all my opponents, Ulberg with his style is very specific, very systematic. He's really somebody I need right now to face, to little push my standup up because it's starting in the standup.”
Prochazka enters UFC 327 with a 32-5-1 professional MMA record and a 6-2 mark in the UFC, while Ulberg brings a 13-1 professional record and 9-1 in the UFC into their bout.
