Former champion Jiří Procházka returns on November 21 at UFC Qatar. The Czech fighter takes on undefeated Navajo Stirling in the main event of the evening. Both light-heavyweights are hoping that a win will bring them a title shot next against current champion Carlos Ulberg.
The UFC has announced the fight on its social media channels. Procházka currently holds the number 2 spot in the media rankings and sits at number 3 in the meta rankings. Meanwhile, his opponent, Stirling, is ranked fifth by the media and seventh in the meta rankings.
Former Champion, Future Champion?
The 33-year-old Jiří Procházka is one of the best and most popular fighters in the light-heavyweight division. Never in a boring fight, Procházka signed as the RIZIN FF champion in 2020. After two amazing knockouts against former title challengers Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes, Procházka got a title shot in his third UFC fight against champion Glover Teixeira. In a grueling fight, Procházka won at the end of the fifth round by rear-naked choke submission, winning the title.
Due to a shoulder injury that took some time to recover from, Procházka vacated the belt and was promised he would get an immediate title shot when he recovered. One and a half years after winning the title, he got the chance to win the title back when he took on Alex Pereira for the vacant title. Procházka lost the fight via knockout in the second round. The Czech fighter bounced back with a very tough win over Aleksandar Rakić and earned a rematch against Pereira. Also, this time Procházka was knocked out in the second round. Last year, Procházka fought twice and took on former champion Jamahal Hill and contender Khalil Rountree Jr.
Procházka beat both fighters by knockout and got a new opportunity to fight for the vacant title against Carlos Ulberg earlier this year. Ulberg suffered a leg injury early in the fight, and it looked to be a matter of time before Procházka was going to win. Unfortunately for the former champion, he got caught by a one-legged Ulberg and knocked out in the first round. Now he needs to win to get another chance to fight for the title. He takes on the undefeated Navajo Stirling, who happens to be one of the training partners of Ulberg at City Kickboxing in New Zealand.
The Next Generation Has Arrived
Stirling is five years younger than Procházka and is one of the biggest up-and-comers in the light-heavyweight division. The fighter from New Zealand earned his UFC contract in 2024 during the Contender Series. He knocked out Phil Latu in the second round. Three months after the win, he already made his UFC debut against Tuco Tokkos. Stirling won the fight after three rounds via unanimous decision. Last year, Stirling fought twice and won both fights via unanimous decision against Ivan Erslan and Rodolfo Bellato.
Fans criticized the New Zealander for a lack of finishing his fights. Stirling showed earlier this year that finishing his fights was just a matter of time. In his last three fights, he won via TKO. The biggest win came in his most recent fight last month, when he finished former champion Jan Błachowicz via TKO in the first round. With six wins in the UFC and three finishes in his last three fights, he now takes on former champion Jiří Procházka. Stirling knows that a win could put him in a weird spot because his current training partner and champion, Carlos Ulberg, will likely be his next opponent.
UFC Qatar
- Jiri Prochazka vs. Navajo Stirling
- Aljamain Sterling vs. Kevin Vallejos
- Dan Hooker vs. Brian Ortega
- Asu Almabayev vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
- Jared Cannonier vs. Ikram Aliskerov
- Aleksandre Topuria vs. Santiago Luna
- Shamil Gaziev vs. Tallison Teixeira
- Amir Albazi vs. Alessandro Costa
Former Champion Jiří Procházka Battles Navajo Stirling at UFC Qatar