This Saturday, November 11th, the UFC returns to New York City’s historic Madison Square Garden.

UFC 295 has been hotly anticipated with Jiri Procházka looking to reclaim his vacated Light Heavyweight Championship against the infamous Alex Pereira who continues his surge into the 205-pound division.

Procházka poised for a phenomenal return

The Czech fighter has not fought since July 2022 over a year ago in a successful bout that saw Procházka become the undisputed Light Heavyweight champion by submitting Glover Teixeira in the final round at UFC 275.

Using his wits and his fight IQ Procházka showed enough character to overcome the onslaught Teixeira brought in the form of four takedowns prior to his victory. 

This ability is something the form champion will need to bring on Saturday if he is to beat Teixeira’s fellow countryman and student.

The question of Alex Pereira

Former champion at the prestigious Glory kickboxing championship, Pereira now has an MMA record of 8 wins and 2 defeats, an impressive record that was perpetuated in no small way when he reached the pinnacle of the Middleweight division.

A title he held until the seminal, Israel Adesanya ripped it from him. A defeat which saw the now 36-year-old move up in weight class from 185lbs to 205lbs.

A big question mark now looms as the Brazilian has only competed once in the Light Heavyweight division where Jan Blachowicz was defeated via split decision.

Despite victory, however, Pereira landed 18 significant strikes more than his opponent without scoring a knockdown or TKO sparking the debate as to whether the seasoned kickboxer has the power to survive in this much heavier weight class.

Betting odds

The bookies have had their say deeming the Czech fighter as the favourite with Procházka’s odds now set predominantly at 11/10 and 6/5 with LiveScoreBet even offering 1/1 odds for the former champion.

Pereira’s odds seem significantly less optimistic with most bookies bringing odds predominantly at 4/6 or 8/11 for the Brazilian.

The co-main event has also been a topic of dispute with Wigan-born Tom Aspinall taking on Russian Sergei Pavlovich in a Heavyweight bout of equally heavy proportions.

Pavlovich is seen as a strong favourite for a win here with the number 2 ranked UFC heavyweight odds from several bookies at 1/1 and most offering 19/20.

Aspinall is a classic underdog ranked fourth in the division and has had most of his odds set at 4/5.

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