MMA opinion: Reflecting on Jiri Prochazka’s tough road back to the title

Jiri Prochazka will take on surging contender Carlos Ulberg in the main event of UFC 327 on Saturday, April 11 for the vacant undisputed light heavyweight title.

The title is available after former champ Alex Pereira vacated the belt. Prochazka will be looking to reclaim gold in his third attempt since injury forced his hand in 2022. 

Sports News Blitz’s Freddie Thomas-Neher takes a look back at his rocky road back to gold. 

Fight of the night and a cancelled rematch

Glover Teixeira at the back end of his career was no easy man to walk through, and Prochazka found that out at UFC 275. 

Teixeira, then a grizzled 42-year-old veteran making his first title defence, took Prochazka to war over five rounds, with both men dropped on multiple occasions. 

A Hail Mary rear-naked choke saw Prochazka walk away with the belt and was lauded as the future of a light heavyweight division that had seen such turbulence since Jon Jones had departed its ranks. 

With a rematch scheduled for UFC 282, it appeared as if Prochazka was being angled to retire Teixeira; a big performance after a close fight could stamp his place head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the division. 

Although, it was not to be, and the cancellation became the first tough step of many for BJP’s way back to the title. 

Dana White described the injury that forced him to vacate as “the worst shoulder injury the UFC doctors have ever seen”.  

With Prochazka’s ‘samurai code’ way of fighting, he took the tough decision out of respect for his peers, and subsequently made his comeback 17 months after beating Teixeira.

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Pereira loss and UFC 300

Madison Square Garden was the place and the former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira was the name, although UFC 295 did not exactly go as planned for the former RIZIN champion. 

The fight began with one of the most intense staredowns in combat sports history and, with the two having batted off all competition, it did seem as if the two best light heavyweights were finally taking centre stage.

A questionable stoppage saw Prochazka knocked out in the second round after a flurry of strikes combined with a knockdown gave referee Marc Goddard seemingly enough cause to stop the fight. 

Controversial, but unavoidable, and it was back to the beginning for the former champion just a few months after. 

He furthered his reputation for utter lunacy in one of the most humorous fights in recent memory at UFC 300; a bounce-back knockout win against perennial contender Aleksandar Rakić.

Prochazka is known for his samurai ways, often releasing videos of his eccentric training routines and is fairly well known for his ‘war braid’ ponytail, and his unorthodox methods were never more apparent. 

Rakic seemed the superior fighter in the early going with the Czech fighter failing to make any real imprint in the first round. 

Prochazka won by second round knockout, pretty much after just getting bored of being leg kicked and deciding he didn’t want to do it anymore. 

Two weeks’ notice and a major setback 

The win seemed to be one that could start a streak; he had fought twice in five months and was beginning to make a case for the UFC 295 stoppage being a fluke. 

Although, with a championship on the horizon, his road back got quite comprehensively rushed after Conor McGregor’s return to the UFC was delayed from UFC 303. 

Prochazka, ever the embodiment of the warrior spirit, stepped in on two-weeks notice to try and avenge his loss to Pereira. 

This was a pretty bad idea. 

Pereira dropped him at the end of the first round and, within the first 10 seconds of the second, removed the Czech fighter from consciousness with a head kick. 

No questions this time and with the Brazilian two fights up on Prochazka while seemingly clearing out the division, a return to gold seemed nigh-impossible. 

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Putting wins together and an open field 

With no clear road back, a dead-in-the-water match up between two of Poatan’s victims was organised and Prochazka faced off against the man who assumed his championship after his vacation: tricky kickboxer Jamahal Hill. 

Hill had also been forced to vacate the belt in similar fashion, had fought Pereira to extremely limited success and needed a bounce-back. 

Insanity ensued with both disregarded contenders attempting to stamp a claim for a return to the title picture, and Prochazka took the spoils with a third-round knockout after a back-and-forth affair. 

Despite the varied results, it had already become quite clear that Prochazka had a reputation as something of an interesting addition and, with still a long way to go, all match-ups pointed to incredibly entertaining results. 

On the undercard of UFC 320, an event where rival Pereira reclaimed his belt after an injury-laden loss a year prior, BJP took on another victim of an ill-advised title fight in Khalil Rountree Jr. 

Again, somewhat characteristically, insanity ensued. 

Two rounds down, the relentless pressure of the Czech fighter finally took effect on the American kickboxer leading to a flatline knockout against the fence with just two minutes to go. 

Comeback wins in abundance, a reputation for chaos, and with the news that Alex Pereira would vacate his championship for a move to heavyweight, the time is now for Prochazka’s re-ascension to the pinnacle of the sport. 

If he fails to have his hand raised, this could be one of the last times we see him in the Octagon as, at 33 years old, a bounce-back to the top seems more and more difficult. 

However, as is always the case with Prochazka, nobody (including him) has absolutely any idea if the weekend will see him champion again - but it will undoubtedly be a pretty unmissable watch.

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