While Jiri Prochazka dug deep and pulled out a submission win in the dying seconds of his title fight against Glover Teixeira, he sees a lot to improve on moving forward.
Jiri Prochazka appeared at the UFC 275 post-fight press conference (watch it here) a man who was clearly proud of his Light Heavyweight title victory over Glover Teixeira last night (Sat., June 11, 2022) in Kallang, Singapore, and troubled by how difficult it was to win.
Prochazka and Teixeira went back-and-forth for 24.5 minutes. Teixeira was on the verge of a decision win … until Prochazka grabbed a Hail Mary rear-naked choke and tapped him out with 28 seconds remaining on the clock (watch highlights here).
“Yeah, I’m satisfied,” Prochazka told the assembled media following the event. “But, some moments like you saw, Glover had advantage, yeah? And his pressure was amazing. Still, in his age, amazing. Very tough fighter. But it doesn’t matter. What the fight takes, you have to give that.”
Prochazka was asked if he realized the fight was a barnburner that had fans around the world on the edge of their seats.
“No, it was from my side, it was a horrible fight, a horrible performance,” he said. “Honestly. Honestly. You saw that fight. In some moments, I just survived some moments, yeah? And my plan. Not plan, f—k. My life’s plan is to be dominant in the fight and not just be a survivor in there. To be hunter, yeah. And that will be my next fight, and I will show that. I don’t want to fight like that. It’s tough, it’s full of blood, and it’s not beautiful – maybe for you it’s beautiful, you like to be entertained. But, for a fighter, I like to fight clean.”
It was definitely not a bout full of technical mastery. Both Prochazka and Teixeira gave away advantageous positions, walked into traps, and took a lot of damage. Prochazka admits he knew coming into the fifth and final round that he was probably losing on the scorecards (see it here).
“I thought about I did not enough to end him,” he said. “And I strike him and I shoot him a lot but he was still on his legs. And I have to work on that, on my punches, to be more deadly. And before the fifth round I thought about I had to end it. Man, I can’t still believe it. Because it was tough, a very tough fight. But sometimes it’s like that, you have to do whatever.
“I know I was in a good position,” he continued. “He leave me to take his neck, and he has a big head with big bones on the chin. So I used that against him. You have to take what the moment give you, right now. And that was … he had a free neck, so I took that.”
Several times, Prochazka circled back to self-criticism.
“I see myself in somebody who is watching my fights, and I’m realizing my mistakes,” he said. “And if these mistakes and all these things surround, it’s good for the work on it. I will work on it. That’s my motivation, yeah? Like I said, my highest motivation is the mastery in every different kind of my life. And I want to show the clear fight. Clear fight. But in a clear fight, you have to be ready to show the tough war. And those are two different things, but you have to be ready for both.”
Paradigm’s Sports NEWEST! And the Czech Republic’s FIRST! UFC World Champion! The indomitable samurai, @jiri_bjp! What a fight! What a performance! Huge congrats ?? @ParadigmSports pic.twitter.com/m2ZJZf290V
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) June 12, 2022
As for what’s next, Prochazka is ready for all comers.
“It doesn’t matter if it will be Glover or Jan, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “For me it doesn’t matter. For the next fight, I swear I will be another fighter — not like that. That was not good performance from me.
“I want to fight this year,” he concluded. “But, not in the next month. I have to repair a little bit my face and then let’s go.”
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