Jiri Prochazka is new UFC light heavyweight champion

SINGAPORE – “I have no style,” proclaimed newly crowned UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka. 

True enough, Prochazka comes across as an unpredictable mix of a drunken kung-fu master — sometimes like Chris Hemsworth’s Thor come to life with his tall frame and hair bundled into this pony-tail, and outside the Octagon — like that chill and unflappable Keanu Reeves dude. 

Prochazka laughed.

“I like the analogy,” he roared like some Norse god who has given his approval and is demanding a keg of the strongest ale possible. “That is because I do not have command of the English language. But yes, I am chill.”

And after almost 25 minutes of bloody battle with Glover Teixeira, the Czech mixed martial arts fighter gave the former a taste of his own medicine when he slipped the rear naked choke to fulfill what he called, “his destiny.”

Prochazka rocked Teixeira many times with his strikes and knees. Just when everyone at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and those watching live on pay-per-view thought the champion was a goner, he reversed the momentum and had the Czech on his back on the canvas. 

And it seemed in the fifth round that Prochazka’s bold challenge to take the championship belt away in Singapore would be his folly. He tempted fate and even toyed with the Brazilian, giving him his second and third wind. 

When he had Teixeira on the ground, instead of wrestling with him, Prochazka walked away as if to say to the former, “let’s trade punches in the middle of the ring.”

In truth, Prochazka could have put Teixeira away as early as the second round. Whether he was toying with the erstwhile champion or Teixeira actually had deep reservoirs of strength and fortitude, as the fight went on, it transformed from a great main event into one of the all-time greats.

With less than a minute remaining in the fifth and final round, Teixeira had a good chance of submitting the Czech challenger. If he couldn’t, he was going to retain his title belt in his first title defense. After all, he led in two of the judges’ scorecards.

Then Prochazka, as he had done in the previous rounds, slipped out of Glover’s robust but tiring arms. And now, Jiri was on top and it was his turn to slip the rear naked choke. Had there been seconds left, Teixeira could have held on, but there 30 seconds left and he had no choice but to tap out.

And Jiri Prochazka was now the champion. 

And almost immediately, another former light heavyweight champion, Jan Blachowicz, called him out.

“He congratulated me and then got really aggressive,” described the new champion. “So I said, ‘I love you.’”

The mind games have begun even before the matchmakers have figured things out.

And yet, Prochazka was apologetic. Not once, but many times over. 

“To you,” he addressed the media afterwards, “It might be a great fight because it is bloody. But not to fighters. You want to finish it quick. I made many mistakes. I will get better. I promise.” 

“But first… I fix my face,” he said of the bruises on his face; tell-tale signs of the struggle and slugfest he had just survived. 

“Then I get on a boat, go out to sea, and relax.”

All hail the new god of light heavyweight thunder and chill… Jiri Prochazka. 

UFC 275 was shown live on Premier Sports on Skycable and Cignal as well as on the TapGo streaming app.