Jiri Prochazka speaks in more detail about his brief cageside run-in with Jan Blachowicz at UFC 275.
UFC 275 was a big night for Jiri Prochazka. With 28 seconds left in the fight, the Czech fighter managed to eke out a submission win over Glover Teixeira to become the new undisputed champion at 205 pounds.
As it is customary for new champions, they instantly become walking targets as soon as they win the belt. But for Prochazka, one potential challenger made his intentions known even before he could soak it all in.
During his post-fight scrum, Prochazka detailed the brief cage-side run-in he had with former champion Jan Blachowicz as he was making his way backstage. That brief moment was caught on video.
“He was a little bit friendly and a little bit aggressive. After I said, ‘Hey, OK, let’s go. You are the next,’ he started to be aggressive because he saw the cameras and all these things. He tried to flex a little bit,” Prochazka told reporters.
“I told him, ‘I love you.’ Because he was so aggressive, yeah? First, he was smiling to me, everything. And it was good. And after the fight, he was aggressive, ‘I wanna fight!’ So I said, ‘I love you, Jan. Let’s talk in the cage.’”
Prochazka, for his part, says he’s ready to take on the challenge as soon as he’s fully healed.
“He was so brave and he told me something about our fight. So I shared the energy with him. We will see. I will be ready, but just give me a little time to repair my face and to realize the mistakes from this fight.”
Blachowicz, who lost the title to Teixeira at UFC 267 last October, got himself back on the win column via third-round TKO against Aleksander Raki? in mid-May.