Tag: Jiri Prochazka

Procházka Names Opponent & Location Preference For First Defense

Newly-crowned UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Ji?í Procházka has a few options for his first defense, but it seems that one opponent and location is sticking out. This past weekend at UFC 275, the 15th 205-pound titleholder in UFC history was crowned, and the first to originate from the Czech Republic. In three Octagon outings, Procházka…

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Newly-crowned UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Ji?í Procházka has a few options for his first defense, but it seems that one opponent and location is sticking out.

This past weekend at UFC 275, the 15th 205-pound titleholder in UFC history was crowned, and the first to originate from the Czech Republic. In three Octagon outings, Procházka has ascended to the top on MMA’s biggest stage, but it certainly wasn’t an easy ride.

Entering the final minute of a memorable main event, Glover Teixeira was on his way to a successful victory and defense on the scorecards. But after reversing position on the ground, “Denisa” locked in a rear-naked choke, forcing the Brazilian to tap with just 28 seconds remaining.

Now, having delivered one of the greatest fights in UFC history and brought the gold back to his home country, Procházka is looking ahead to what’s next, and if his dreams come to fruition, it could include a home defense.

There are seemingly three options in the light heavyweight title picture: a rematch with Teixeira, the victor of UFC 277’s Anthony Smith vs. Magomed Ankalaev fight, and former champion Jan Blachowicz.

During an appearance on The MMA Hour, Procházka shared a similar sentiment to Blachowicz when revealing his preference, suggesting that a clash with the Polish star in their home continent would be the “biggest event” in European MMA history.

“First, I don’t know what’s the preference of the UFC, the organization. I want to communicate more with the UFC, what they want from me,” noted Procházka. “That I want to talk to them about. The second thing, I think the most dangerous man here in the light heavyweight division under me, there is Jan Blachowicz. He can be the next challenger (for) me.

“Man, that’s something that I’m thinking about. I think for Europe, that will be the biggest event ever, (in) the martial arts,” added Procházka. “Me and him, Poland and Czech Republic, they are next to (each other). I will be ready, and I will win. Doesn’t matter, whatever it takes.”

The MMA leader visited the Czech Republic for the first time in 2019. The card saw a collision between Jan Blachowicz and Thiago Santos in the main event, and took place at the O2 Arena in Prague, the Czech capital.

While that could be an option, Blachowicz has also suggested that the pair could sell out a stadium in Poland ahead of a potential championship showdown.

Procházka: I Have To Respect Teixeira

However, while it seems clear that the champion has his preference, he also acknowledged the place of now-former light heavyweight king Teixeira in the division.

The Brazilian certainly played his part in the certain Fight of the Year contender in Singapore on Saturday, and was just seconds away from retaining the belt on the scorecards. With that in mind, and having committed himself to pursuit of two-time champ status, Teixeira called for an immediate rematch, something that “Denisa” knows he has to “respect.”

“But still, I have to keep respect for Glover. So one thing is to offer Glover the rematch, and the second thing is to fight Jan Blachowicz,” said Procházka. “I have to make a decision in that. I have to talk with the UFC and my manager about what will be the best step.”

The debate has certainly drew opinions. While Smith has suggested that Blachowicz has no business in the title picture given the injury that led to his victory over Aleksandar Raki?, former UFC star Chael Sonnen believes that Teixeira has blown his chance of an immediate rematch through a “weak” post-fight strategy.

And with UFC President Dana White suggesting that the Smith vs. Ankalaev winner will likely be number one contender, perhaps the Brazilian and the Pole will be left out in the cold. Only time will tell.

Who would you like to see Ji?í Procházka defend his title against first?

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Jon Jones Reacts To New UFC 205lb Champion Ji?í Procházka

Jon Jones took the time to congratulate newly-crowned UFC light heavyweight champion, Ji?í Procházka, for his win over Glover Teixeira. Procházka defeated Teixeira in an instant classic matchup in the UFC 275 headliner this last weekend. With seconds left in the fight, Procházka got Teixeira’s back and was able to sink in a rear-naked choke…

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Jon Jones took the time to congratulate newly-crowned UFC light heavyweight champion, Ji?í Procházka, for his win over Glover Teixeira.

Procházka defeated Teixeira in an instant classic matchup in the UFC 275 headliner this last weekend. With seconds left in the fight, Procházka got Teixeira’s back and was able to sink in a rear-naked choke to win the title.

Despite vacating his title after a win over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247, Jones remains a massive part of the light heavyweight division’s history. In a recent tweet, he congratulated Procházka for his performance.

“Congratulations Champ,” Jones tweeted to Procházka.

Procházka earned the title shot after back-to-back knockouts over Volkan Oezdemir and Reyes in the UFC. He signed with the UFC back in 2020 following a championship tenure in RIZIN.

Jones is preparing for a move to heavyweight later this year, potentially against former champion Stipe Miocic. He has been sidelined since his win over Reyes to build his body up for his heavyweight move, and also to deal with recent legal issues.

Procházka earned a series of impressive wins in RIZIN, including reigning PFL heavyweight champion Bruno Cappelozza and Muhammed Lawal. He defeated C.B. Dollaway for the RIZIN light heavyweight title at RIZIN 20 before making the move to the Octagon.

Procházka is expected to face former champion Jan Blachowicz next but could potentially face Teixeira in an immediate rematch.

Who do you think would win in a light heavyweight bout between Jon Jones and Ji?í Procházka?

Continue Reading Jon Jones Reacts To New UFC 205lb Champion Ji?í Procházka at MMA News.

Procházka: Not Partying Enough Was My Biggest Pre-UFC 275 Mistake

Newly crowned UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Ji?í Procházka is looking to make up for some past mistakes with his post-UFC 275 celebrations. In this past weekend’s main event, Procházka and Glover Teixeira delivered a headliner worthy of marking the first pay-per-view event to be held in Southeast Asia. Inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the pair…

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Newly crowned UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Ji?í Procházka is looking to make up for some past mistakes with his post-UFC 275 celebrations.

In this past weekend’s main event, Procházka and Glover Teixeira delivered a headliner worthy of marking the first pay-per-view event to be held in Southeast Asia. Inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the pair went to war for the best part of five rounds, leaving absolutely everything inside the steel surroundings of the Octagon.

After a back-and-forth 24 minutes of wild and enthralling action, Procházka secured his place in UFC history, beating the Brazilian at his own game with a last-ditch rear-naked choke. Having been 28 seconds away from defeat, “Denisa” ensured that he’d be leaving Singapore one championship belt heavier and as the Czech Republic’s first UFC titleholder.

That’s certainly cause for celebration, right? Well, pre-UFC 275, Procházka wouldn’t have agreed. As it turns out, the 29-year-old hasn’t been hitting the town post-fight so far in the UFC. That’s despite recording a main event victory over Dominick Reyes via spinning back elbow last May.

Instead, Procházka focused his attention back to fight preparation straight away, something he’s identified as one of his mistakes leading into his championship challenge.

During the UFC 275 post-fight press conference, the 205-pound king discussed his party plans post-title win. The Czech star admitted that toning down his celebrations in the past has been an error, and hinted that it likely contributed towards what he perceives to have been a disappointing performance versus Teixeira.

“I’m conferring with my friends. We want to take a boat, some ship, and to celebrate it somewhere on the sea and just enjoy the time,” said Procházka. “Because after my last fight with Dominick [Reyes], I didn’t celebrate enough. And I think that was the mistake for the next fight, for the next preparation.

“Because you have to train a lot, fight a lot, and then celebrate a lot. Because it’s a very important part because you have to give everything for your celebration to show yourself how important (this is), and it is important. I’m looking forward (to) that,” concluded Procházka.

The champ has always had an incredibly focused aura around him, something that was even evident in the criticism of his own performance during his Octagon interview. But nevertheless, it seems that “Denisa” is looking to let his hair down for a period, before he begins preparation for his first title defense.

And it’s safe to say that he deserves some downtime after playing his part in one of the all-time great UFC title fights.

Do you think it’s important for fighters like Ji?í Procházka to celebrate their victories?

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Glover Teixeira Believes Weight Cut Effected UFC 275 Performance: ‘I Was Vomiting’

Glover TeixeiraGlover Teixeira has speculated that an unusual weight cut and subsequent recovery may be to blame for his wilting in his UFC 275 headliner against Jiri Prochazka last weekend in Singapore – detailing how he had vomited following his cut to championship weight, and insisting that the recovery process was largely different from prior career […]

Glover Teixeira

Glover Teixeira has speculated that an unusual weight cut and subsequent recovery may be to blame for his wilting in his UFC 275 headliner against Jiri Prochazka last weekend in Singapore – detailing how he had vomited following his cut to championship weight, and insisting that the recovery process was largely different from prior career cuts.

Teixeira, a native of Minas Gerais, headlined UFC 275 at the Singapore Indoor Arena on Saturday against Czech challenger, Prochazka, suffering an undisputed light heavyweight title loss to the promotional perfect finisher, courtesy of a last round rear-naked choke.

Turning in a splendid performance against Prochazka during the majority of the five round back-and-forth, Teixeira ultimately fell victim to a rear-naked choke – without hooks, in the final seconds of the fifth round following a messy scramble.

Following the loss, Teixeira admitted that he had likely gassed during the final moments of the round and fight as a whole. And he now speculates that an unfamiliar recovery process, which included vomiting was partly to blame for his sudden cardio dump.

“Even though it was 9:30 at night (in Singapore), I cut the weight at 3:00 in the afternoon and stayed until 9:30 at night without drinking water, without anything,” Glover Teixeira told Brazilian outlet, Combate following UFC 275. “And then when I started to recover, I started to vomit, I started to vomit… I felt like vomiting. I couldn’t do the interview (with Megan Olivi) after the weigh-in and that got in the way, got in the way in the fifth round there.”

“I always talk to my students, ‘The weight cut will get in your way, if it’s a tough, five round fight, it will get in your way.’” Glover Teixeira said. “And it got in the way, I think that was it… I’ve never had a recovery like this.”

Whilst placing blame on his weight cut, Teixeira insisted that he was taking responsibility for his own defeat against Prochazka.

“The fight was brutal, I got tired, as I told you, I don’t want to blame my camp, I can do the fight again, and I can get tired again,” Glover Teixeira said. “… If I didn’t lose the weight right, he (Jiri Prochazka) did better than me, you know? If I didn’t lose the weight properly, it was my fault, that’s what I’m talking about, that I have to adjust, so it was totally my fault. I might be blaming it on the weight – I’m blaming the weight, but I’m taking responsibility for myself.” 

Glover Teixeira campaigns for a title re-run against Jiri Prochazka

Despite his stoppage loss to newly-minted undisputed champion, Prochazka, Teixeira is adamant that he wants to share the Octagon with the Brno favorite in an immediate championship rematch next.

VIDEO: Jiri Prochazka Gets A Champions Welcome Back Home After Defeating Glover Teixeira At UFC 275

Jiri ProchazkaJiri Prochazka caught Glover Teixeira in a submission in the fifth round of their championship bout, after being down on most judges scorecard. He was welcomed back to his home country of the Czech Republic with a parade in his honor. Prochazka and Teixiera’s fight was quite possibly the greatest Light Heavyweight championship fight of […]

Jiri Prochazka

Jiri Prochazka caught Glover Teixeira in a submission in the fifth round of their championship bout, after being down on most judges scorecard. He was welcomed back to his home country of the Czech Republic with a parade in his honor.

Prochazka and Teixiera’s fight was quite possibly the greatest Light Heavyweight championship fight of all time. It is up there with Jon Jones vs Alexander Gustafsson, in terms of how entertaining of a fight it was. Prohcazka pulled the win out of nowhere, when it looked like he was either going to be finished, or was well on his way to losing the fight on the cards.

Teixieria fought a great fight as well, so an immediate rematch could possibly be in the cards for him. He has even already started campaigning for a rematch, by asking Prochazka and the organization to run it back.

Jiri Prochazka became the first Czech UFC champion ever and was greeted with a huge parade in is honor as a welcoming gift

The parade has so many people in it to greet the new champion, and it stretched far down the street it was on.

Prochazka became the fastest fighter to win the Light Heavyweight championship since Quentin ‘Rampage’ Jackson did it back in 2007. Prochazka captured the title in only his third fight in the UFC and won it at the young age of 29. Prochazka made sure to wait until he felt he was 100% ready for the UFC, to make his debut. The waiting looked to have paid off, as he ascended the division very quickly.

It truly was a story of the youth, overtaking the old. Teixiera had become the oldest fighter to win the championship for the first time when he beat Jan Blachowicz in late 2021. He won it at the age of 42.

Glover Teixeira On UFC 275 Loss “It’s Hard To Swallow A Defeat Like That”

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira is in the beginning stages of coming to terms with the jaws of defeat following UFC 275. Teixeira looked on his way to victory in a back-and-forth battle against Ji?í Procházka in the UFC 275 headliner last weekend. But he was caught in a rear-naked choke with 28…

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Former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira is in the beginning stages of coming to terms with the jaws of defeat following UFC 275.

Teixeira looked on his way to victory in a back-and-forth battle against Ji?í Procházka in the UFC 275 headliner last weekend. But he was caught in a rear-naked choke with 28 seconds left in the fight to relinquish his title.

After what has been dubbed by many as one of the greatest light heavyweight title fights in UFC history, many fans and pundits wouldn’t mind seeing Teixeira and Procházka run it back as soon as possible.

During a post-fight interview with Combate, Teixeira reflected on his performance and hinted at what he wants next.

“I’m a guy that I’m grateful for in life,” Teixeira said. “I’m grateful for everything I have, for everything I’ve done, I’m a guy that what comes to me I have to accept with joy and gratitude, but it’s hard to swallow a defeat like that. I wanted an immediate rematch. I am not injured, I have these cuts here, but in three weeks I will be ready to train, because I cut my foot and the doctor said that in three weeks I have to remove the stitches in my toes, but nothing is broken.

“I’m not feeling anything painful, just muscle. In three weeks, I will be training again. I wanted that immediate rematch. I think I deserve this rematch for what I put in there. He deserves this rematch because it was a victory that came out there “Pá”, who took it, but you saw that he wasn’t cool, he wasn’t so happy, he kept saying that his performance was not good, so let’s go. Yours wasn’t good, mine wasn’t either. Let’s go back now.

“We already know each other and the two have the same samurai mentality. And let’s go again, man, let’s get this out there ASAP. Dana White has to make this fight happen. It was one of the best fights in recent times and we will do it again. We’ll do it again, that’s what I want.”

Procházka seems content facing either Blachowicz or Teixeira for his first title defense. Meanwhile, UFC president Dana White hasn’t confirmed who will get the nod for a shot at the new champion Procházka.

If he were to earn the win at UFC 275, Teixeira promised Blachowicz the next shot at the belt after their clash at UFC 267. But now that the shoe is on the other foot, he feels an immediate rematch between himself and Procházka is the fight to make after their gritty war.

Do you want to see Glover Teixeira and Ji?í Procházka run it back next?

Continue Reading Glover Teixeira On UFC 275 Loss “It’s Hard To Swallow A Defeat Like That” at MMA News.