For two rounds in his UFC 320 light heavyweight bout with Khalil Rountree, Jiri Prochazka appeared to have trouble getting out of first gear. Then, Prochazka flashed his trademark chaotic fighting style in the third and final round, punishing Rountree with a variety of strikes before scoring a late knockout.
The fight started slowly compared to the pre-fight expectations of fireworks. Both fighters were wound tight and seemed to be looking for the perfect moment to explode. Rountree focused to the body with punches and kicks while Prochazka tried to feel things out.
In the late stages of the opening round, Rountree scored with some heavy shots before Prochazka fired back. Rountree got the better of those late exchanges, but Prochazka’s chin held up to some clean punches before the end of the frame.
Rountree continued to build momentum in the second round, getting his strikes off with such speed that Prochazka struggled to find the timing to land counter shots. While Prochazka landed the occasional jab and kick, it appeared Rountree was in control of the fight.
Then came the third round and the Prochazka charge. Rather than stand back and wait for Rountree to launch his attack, Prochazka brought his chaotic, kinetic style directly to Rountree’s face. It didn’t take long before Rountree began to wilt in the face of the storm, showing damage and seeming to have had his energy sapped — a truth that was not helped as Prochazka took an extended moment to focus his attack on Rountree’s torso.
Finally, as Prochazka flurried along the cage, a left hand landed flush to Rountree’s chin, knocking him out cold at the 3:04 mark of the final round.
“I would like to show every time, a little step up,” Prochazka said. “This time, I felt like I need to go through the blood. When the blood war will come, it will be necessary. For me, it was necessary to be in the game and really want it, to be in there here and now and find a way.”
Prochazka had his eyes on Saturday’s main event between champion Magomed Ankalaev and former champ Alex Pereira, who already holds two knockout wins over Prochazka, believing they would be next up rather than No. 3-ranked Carlos Ulberg, who recently defeated Dominik Reyes to stake his own claim for a title shot.
“I believe the next one will be one of the two who, tonight, will fight for the title,” Prochazka said. “I already offered Carlos Ulberg the fight and he declined and fought Dominik Reyes.”
