Alex Pereira bags UFC Light Heavyweight title after beating Jirí Prochazka

Alex Pereira on Saturday clinched the vacant Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight championship by stopping Jirí Prochazka via technical knockout (TKO) at 4:08 of the second round in the main event of UFC 295 at New York's Madison Square Garden (MSG).

Pereira, who has already been crowned the UFC middleweight champion, dropped Prochazka with a left hook, landing punches and elbows in the process. 

Prochazka appeared to be fighting back, but referee Marc Goddard called the bout off, causing some fans to boo at the stoppage, ESPN reported.

"I'm not surprised after the first left hook," Pereira said in his postfight interview. "He fell down on my legs and I looked for the finish. I don't think it was a bad stoppage."

Prochazka agreed with the stoppage, saying: "I think it was right," he said. "I was out. But you know, I will never stop."

Despite starting his UFC career in 2021, Pereira — a rising star in the UFC — has already won championships in two weight classes, including Middleweight after beating Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 and the Light Heavyweight on Saturday that was vacated by Jamahal Hill due to an Achilles tendon injury.

Afterwards, Pereira who has beaten Adesanya twice in kickboxing, called him out to move up to light heavyweight and face him. Pereira and Adesanya are 1-1 in the UFC.

It is more likely Hill will be next for Pereira when Hill recovers. 

The 36-year-old former two-division Glory Kickboxing champion is the only fighter to headline back-to-back UFC cards at MSG and was recently inducted into that promotion's Hall of Fame.