The Injury That Kept Ex-UFC Champion Jiri Prochazka Away From Fighting

Jiri Prochazka and his journey in the UFC has been full of ups and downs. Despite that the former lightweight heavyweight champion has continued to prove his mettle. The 31-year-old fighter defeated Volkan Oezdemir in his debut fight at UFC 251 via KO in 2020. ‘The BJP’ defeated Glover Teixeira to capture the 205-division belt at UFC 275. However, when he was set to defend his title against Glover Teixeira at UFC 282 the cards didn’t turn in his favor. He had to vacate his belt due to an injury before the fight.

The injury came during a sparring session for the rematch against Teixeira. His sparring partner advanced a suplex move on him which made him fall flat on his shoulder. It caused a severe shoulder damage to the ‘BJP’. He opened up about the same during an interview show MMA Hour on YouTube channel MMA Fighting on SBN.

Prochazka took full responsibility for the damage and refused to blame it on others. He said,

“It was sparring session. Everything was light, nobody did something wrong, but I did some mistake. I let the guy take my back. He did a suplex right on my shoulder. That was that.” (0:34 to 1:05)

The Czech fighter went through shoulder surgery due to which he was away from the octagon for almost a year. However the 31-year-old fighter has healed and recovered. He is set to make his return to the octagon and fight for the title.

Jiri Prochazka and his return at UFC 295

‘Denisa’ is all set to make his comeback with his upcoming fight at UFC 295 against Alex Pereira. The event is scheduled to take place on November 11, 2023, at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, United States.

As exciting as it looks, fans can expect a pitched battle between Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira. The Czech fighter Prochazka is highly skilled in Muay Thai kickboxing and has a professional MMA record of 29-3-1. Whereas Pereira on the other hand is a former kickboxer with a kickboxing record of 33-7-0. Since making his transition to MMA he has a professional MMA record of 8-2-0.

It will be interesting to see both these fighters as their fighting styles revolve around an 8-point and 4-point striking system. Prochazka has expertise in striking kicks, punches, elbows, knees, along with clinching. But ‘Poatan’ has a mastery in kickboxing that involves punches and kicks.

Nevertheless, the fight is expected to be an absolute spectacle for fans worldwide. Not only this, but both these fighters will have a chance to prove their supremacy by winning the vacant title.