"Pls sign it UFC" - Aleksandar Rakic agrees to fight Jiri Prochazka on February 17 in Anaheim, fans react

Just days after Jan Blachowicz suffered an injury, causing him to pull out of UFC 297, Aleksandar Rakic has seemingly found a replacement opponent on his own.

Rakic called out Jiri Prochazka on X/Twitter, prompting a response from the former champion. Prochazka accepted Rakic's proposal, suggesting the two fight in February 2024.

Accepting Prochazka's proposed fight date, Aleksandar Rakic posted:

"Yes, let's do Feb. 17 in Anaheim! @mickmaynard2 @danawhite"

In Rakic's initial post, the Austrian light heavyweight expressed frustration with Jan Blachowicz pulling out of their rematch while simultaneously asking Prochazka if he 'had the balls to step up.' In response, Prochazka accepted the fight but stated that the earliest he could return would be February 2024, and Rakic agreed.

The bout has not been officially signed, but if the UFC does send out a contract, Rakic will return to the octagon for the first time since tearing his ACL against Blachowicz in May 2022.

Following the tweet, Blachowicz responded to Rakic calling his injury 'bulls***.' Blachowicz posted:

"First he cries after I broke him, then he cries when I need to take care of my injury. Be happy that I will not break you this time, again."

Fans reacted overwhelmingly positively to the self-made fight, with many urging the UFC front office to make the matchup official.

Echoing all MMA fans' thoughts, one fan responded:

"That would be a great fight! Pls sign it UFC"

Other fans expressed similar excitement, writing:

"Please make this happen. I was so bummed when Jiri had to pull out of 282."

"NO DO MARCH 9 UFC 299"

"BJP 🤛🔥"

"Let's go rocket time!"

The date that Prochazka proposed, February 17, is the confirmed date of UFC 298. The pay-per-view event is currently headlined by featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who is returning to his original weight class to take on the undefeated challenger Ilia Topuria.

Before suffering the injury against Blachowicz, Rakic was on a two-fight win streak with victories over Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith. Since entering the UFC, Rakic has compiled a record of 6-2 in the octagon.

View more fan reactions to Aleksandar Rakic's tweet below:

Fan reactions to Aleksandar Rakic on X [via @rakic_ufc on X]