LAS VEGAS – Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka was visibly uncomfortable with Aleksandar Rakić calling him a “fake samurai.”
Prochazka (29-4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) faces Rakic (14-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC 300 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) with prelims on T- Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. During Wednesday’s media day, Rakic labeled Prochazka a “fake samurai,” which didn’t sit well with him.
“Yeah, I said he’s a fake Samurai because, you know, you can’t become a Samurai after just reading a book,” Rakic told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “What his coach gave him and living that spirit, you know. If you are a Samurai, you need to live this for a long time and not for the last two, three years. So that’s why I said he’s a fake Samurai.”
Prochazka seemed to be a little offended by Rakic’s words.
“Aleksandar is talking too much,” Prochazka said. “He’s talking too much. He doesn’t know me and he will know me in the cage. Who am I, where can I go, how can I go to win, he doesn’t know me personally. If you don’t know someone personally, how can you say anything about them? I’ve never said about myself that I’m a Samurai or anything like that.
“Because I am respecting all the warriors throughout history, and I am sharing with people, with everyone, at all times, the best ideas and the best thoughts. What I already had, which helped me improve along the way, keep me on the path, and he will appreciate that. He doesn’t know anything about me, how I’m living. I can’t say what I sacrificed because I accept the path, and when you accept the path, you will live whatever, do whatever. And that.”
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