Jiri Prochazka has made a big revelation regarding his fight against Alex Pereira. The Czech MMA fighter was apparently a staph infection in the weeks leading up to the fight making him less than a 100% fit going into the fight. Unfortunately for him, UFC fans are just as ruthless outside the ring, as the fighters are inside the ring.
The former champ did not get one iota of sympathy from fans. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Fans began trolling him and calling him out for coming up with excuses after getting KO’d by Pereira,
“Bro give it a rest.. Alex Pereira is just a better fighter than you. No need for all this excuses. “
Bro give it a rest.. Alex Pereira is just a better fighter than you. No need for all this excuses. ♂️
— Ojeh (@OHISOJEH) July 5, 2024
One fan compared his situation with Islam Makhachev, who faced something similar ahead of UFC 302 against Dustin Poirier but still came out victorious,
“Here we go again with all the excuses… Islam Makhachev went into his last fight with a staph infection and still got the win”
Here we go again with all the excuses… Islam Makhachev went into his last fight with a staph infection and still got the win
— Kem-maka (@May_twenty3rd) July 5, 2024
This fan was exhausted with all the staph infection ‘excuses’ that are becoming a frequent thing among UFC fighters,
“These staph excuses are getting exhausting”
These staph excuses are getting exhausting
— Broxstin (@broxstin) July 5, 2024
One fan called out Prochazka for coming up with yet another excuse against Pereira. First, he called him out for using ‘magic’ and after the fight, he has another excuse,
“First it was Alex’s magic, now its Staph.”
First it was Alex’s magic, now its Staph. https://t.co/lEzGv38j2I
— FrankNotFred (@RIDDICK_ULOUS) July 6, 2024
Despite losing to the champ for the second time in a row, Prochazka is still confident third time will be the charm but also conceded that he needed to unlock some secret sauce to make it happen.
But before it comes to that, Prochazka will have to climb the ladder again and he already has a few big names in the division he wants to fight.
Prochazka on finding his way back to ‘Stone Hands’ and his gold
Despite his back to back losses, the former champion is still one of the deadliest fighters in the division and still has title aspirations. As he looks for his next opponent, to get back to winning ways, he called out three fighters from the division in an interview with televizninoviny,
“I know I can beat Pereira. I feel I have what it takes and I just need to unlock the right things to really win. I’ll let me next opponent crystallize. I’m thinking of names, there’s [Jamahal] Hill, [Magomed] Ankalaev and [Jan] Blachowicz.”
Jiri Prochazka remains confident he can beat Alex Pereira, and mentions three potential opponents for his return:
“I know I can beat Pereira. I feel I have what it takes and I just need to unlock the right things to really win.
I’ll let me next opponent crystallize. I’m… pic.twitter.com/W6ZKuLqOT6
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) July 5, 2024
Prochazka is still aiming big for his next fight. He knows that if he wants another title shot, he will have to take out all the other contenders. Any loss from this point, especially easy ones will make it impossible for him to get into the title picture, at least until Pereira hold the gold.