Matt Brown sees danger and opportunity in Jiri Prochazka’s wild style as the former champion heads into his fourth title fight at UFC 327 against Carlos Ulberg on Saturday.
Prochazka is aiming to become a two-time champion in his clash with Ulberg, and Brown believes the matchup pits chaos against structure, with Prochazka’s unorthodox, risk-heavy approach set opposite Ulberg’s more fundamentally sound striking.
“Jiri, you just never really know what to expect,” Brown said, before questioning how long that style can hold up. “I think my biggest question with Jiri that I’ve had for a long time and I’m going to keep having — you can’t play around with non-fundamentals forever. At some point, that starts to catch up with you.”
Brown pointed to Alex Pereira as having “figured out” Prochazka’s attacks and suggested that blueprint could be key for Ulberg. “That’s where I lean a little bit towards Carlos Ulberg in this fight,” Brown explained. “That’s why I kind of go back to the blueprint has been written how to beat Jiri.”
“If someone like Ulberg, who I think is very good, and should be able to follow that blueprint. If he’s able to strategize the proper blueprint, and then go execute that blueprint, which is not always easy, not trying to downplay what it’s going to take to beat Jiri, but I think there is an actual blueprint there. If Carlos can execute on it, I think he should be able to get this done.”
Brown, a retired UFC veteran who holds the record for the most knockouts in welterweight history, noted that Prochazka has stayed near the top of the 205-pound division and already has two past losses to Pereira.
