Dominick Reyes will look to get back on track against red hot Jiri Prochazka

Jiri Prochazka vs Dominick Reyes

Photo: Essentiallysports.com

Dominick Reyes (12-2-0) and Jiri Prochazka (27-3-1) will face each other in a headlining UFC light heavyweight fight on Saturday, May 1 and will be available to stream on ESPN+. The fight had originally been scheduled for February 27 but had to be postponed due to an injury sustained by Reyes.

Reyes had torn his way through the competition en route to starting his professional career with 12 straight wins, nine of which were by knockout or submission. Reyes was then awarded the opportunity for a chance at the title but lost his first championship fight against Jon Jones (26-1-0) via unanimous decision. Reyes again had an opportunity for the light heavyweight title vacated by Jones but again lost to current champion Jan Blachowicz (28-8-0).

This will be the first time Reyes steps back into the octagon since that loss to Blachowicz in September. The #3 ranked light heavyweight will look to get back on track with a win and set himself up for a possible rematch with Blachowicz.

Prochazka has built up plenty of momentum leading into this match. He is on an 11-fight winning streak and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. While Prochazka is a highly experienced fighter, he recently made his UFC debut back in July scoring an impressive TKO over Volkan Oezdemir (17-5-0).

Despite being relatively new to the UFC, a win over Reyes could propel him into number one contender status and possibly even lead to a title match against Blachowicz. Prochazka, currently the #5 ranked light heavyweight, doesn’t seem to let that pressure affect his concentration on his next fight.

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Prochazka said, ““I want to get the title, too, but I want to enjoy every opponent before me. I want to prepare for every opponent precisely.”

Oddsmakers expect this to be a nearly even matchup with both fighters opening at -110. They give the slight edge to Prochazka who still sits around -110 while Reyes has moved to +100.