UFC 303 was supposed to be headlined by Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler but McGregor was forced out of the fight due to a broken toe. In the fight's place, the UFC booked a rematch between reigning light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and the challenger, former champ Jiri Prochazka.
The pair fought previously at UFC 295 as the main event after Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic were forced off the card due to an injury with Jones. That fight ended in a second-round TKO win for Pereira. Now, less than a year later, they'll fight again.
Here's what each fighter needs to do in hopes of getting their hand raised on Saturday night.
Alex Pereira's keys to victory
Repeat history
The best thing Pereira can do is exactly what he did before. He should trust his last game plan because it worked. He'll adjust if he needs to, but repeating history might be an easy task for Pereira.
Calf kicks galore
Pereira's got great calf kicks. He should trust in those to wear Prochazka down and set him up for the knockout or TKO.
Distance management
Pereira is great at using his distance to set up the shots he wants. He needs to rely on that distance to avoid getting hit and making Prochazka flustered.
Jiri Prochazka's keys to victory
Close the distance
As we said above, Pereira uses distance to his advantage. He'll want to take that advantage away by closing the distance and applying pressure. He won't want to let Pereira think.
Grapple
Pereira is a striker and taking that tool away from him will be paramount. If Prochazka can mix his grappling and striking he might be able to tire Pereira and find the win.
Change the gameplan
The game plan didn't work last time so it's time to change things up. Prochazka needs to deliver something unexpected if he hopes to stun Pereira long enough to take control of the fight.