Prochazka-Rakic, Sterling-Kattar set for UFC 300

The tentpole UFC 300 event has its first three matchups.

Former light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka will take on Aleksandar Rakic, ex-bantamweight titleholder Aljamain Sterling will make his featherweight debut against Calvin Kattar, and red-hot middleweight prospect Bo Nickal will make his third Octagon appearance against Cody Brundage.

The fights, announced by UFC CEO Dana White on Thursday night, are scheduled for April 13 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Prochazka will look to rebound after suffering a knockout loss to Alex Pereira in a vacant title bout in the UFC 295 main event last month at Madison Square Garden. That was Prochazka's first fight since capturing the 205-pound belt with a submission win over Glover Teixeira in June 2022. The Czech fighter relinquished the title in November 2022 due to a severe shoulder injury.

Prochazka, a former Rizin FF champion, is 3-1 in the UFC. He was riding a 13-fight winning streak before the defeat against Pereira.

Rakic returns for the first time since a loss to ex-champ Jan Blachowicz in May 2022. Rakic suffered a leg injury in the third round of that fight and subsequently lost via TKO. The Austrian fighter was scheduled to rematch Blachowicz at UFC 297 on Jan. 20 in Toronto, but Blachowicz withdrew due to injury. Rakic then called out Prochazka on social media for a fight at a later date, and Prochazka accepted.

Sterling dropped the bantamweight title in his last bout, falling to Sean O'Malley by second-round TKO at UFC 292 in August. "Funk Master" had been champion since March 2021 and defended the belt three times successfully. Sterling recently confirmed he was moving up to 145 pounds and wanted to face former champion Max Holloway in his featherweight debut.

Kattar will end an 18-month layoff against Sterling. The longtime featherweight contender suffered a knee in his last bout, a second-round defeat to Arnold Allen in the UFC Austin main event in October 2022.

UFC 300 does not yet have a main event.