Jiri Prochazka was counting down the days to his first light heavyweight title defense when he suffered a brutal shoulder injury that knocked him out of the UFC 282 main event.
The damage to his shoulder was so severe that Prochazka opted to vacate the 205-pound title rather than hold up the division in his absence. This resulted in Jan Blachowicz vs Magomed Anakalaev being the UFC 282 main events with the lightweight title at stake.
While Prochazka actually teased on social media that he hoped to be back within six months, UFC president Dana White expects a much longer timeline before he can compete again due to the severity of his shoulder injury.
“That evening, when we were having the meeting and discussing the possibility that he might fight again, he said ‘I believe I can return in five months’. All this was ***,” White’s confession when he appeared on the Paddy Pimblett podcast . “The doctor was with us, too, and the doctor was like you need to start being realistic about this.
” I explained to him that I didn’t want to place too much pressure on my shoulders. I do not think you should feel the need to go back every five to six months to destroy your shoulder. Be patient. Do it right. Do the right procedure and he said that he was going to give up on the division. He decided to vacate it. Stud.”
According to White, Prochazka sustained a shoulder injury while training for Glover Teixeira’s rematch. However, it was the next thing that caused most of his injuries to his arm.
“That night when it all went down and we had our doctor look at him, the doctor literally said in all the years of the UFC, this is the worst shoulder injury we’ve ever seen,” White said. “It’s pretty nasty. Him being the f****** savage that he is, he still wanted to fight. No, you can’t fight, kid. He tore it good.
” It popped out, and there were some men at the gym. Then it took the s*** out and tore his shoulder. I’ll tell you, tell him, tell all the fighters, if anything happens to you, jump in a f****** car and go to the hospital. We will pay for everything. Many people believe that the guys at the gym will fix your shoulder. You should go to the hospital. It’s crazy.”
White anticipates Prochazka will be out of action for a while, so the team decided to resign the title while Prochazka recovers from his shoulder surgery.
Despite giving up the belt, White expects that Prochazka will still be viewed as the top light heavyweight in the world and he’ll get a shot to reclaim the title once he’s healthy again.
Unfortunately White states that Prochazka won’t have that chance until Blachowicz and Ankalaev have already defended the belt.
“He will still be looked at as the champ,” White said about Prochazka. He never lost his belt. It was vacated by him. They will be fighting for the title. There might actually be two fights that happen before he’s able to return after that shoulder surgery.”
With Prochazka out, White said that Glover Teixeira, a former champion is now the No. 1 contender in the division and all signs point towards him getting either Blachowicz or Ankalaev next after UFC 282.
“100 percent [Glover is next],” White said. “The fight was offered to Glover. He didn’t want to take the fight. It will probably be two fights before Jiri comes back so it would be Glover.”
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/12/7/23498569/dana-white-reveals-how-jiri-prochazka-destroyed-his-shoulder-expects-glover-teixeira-next-title-shot?rand=96749
This website uses cookies.