Jiri Prochazka has built a reputation based around an unpredictable and explosive style that immediately turned him into one of the most exciting fighters on the UFC roster.
But taking risks also comes with inherent risk. This is what he faced in his victories against Volkan Oezdemir, Dominick Reyes and others inside the Octagon. Each time, Prochazka scored a dramatic knockout, but not before he faced serious trouble — most notably against Reyes, when he ended up mounted on the ground as he tried to fend off the two-time light heavyweight title challenger.
Now, as he gets ready to take on Glover Teixeira at UFC 275, Prochazka with the 205-pound championship title up for grabs — the No. 2 heavyweight in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings — admitted that he had to make some changes in order to avoid being put back in these bad situations again.
“I have to change this style, especially in the ground, especially in the wrestling,” Prochazka told MMA Fighting. “That’s why I drilled that with Henry [Cejudo] and then back in the Czech Republic with my coaches.
” Everyone knows what my strongest weapon is and where my weaknesses lie. That’s why I start to drill that [on the ground]. This is why I started to drill that [on the ground].
Prochazka mentions that he spent some time recently in Arizona with Henry Cejudo (a former UFC champion in two divisions) who is also an Olympic gold medalist for freestyle wrestling.
Considering Teixeira’s pedigree on the ground — including his submission win over Jan Blachowicz to become UFC champion — Prochazka knows he had to address those issues before facing him in arguably the most important fight in his career.
” I’m happy for that to have an enemy like Glover,” Prochazka stated. “He gave me the chance to prepare myself with these styles, in order to be better .”
Prochazka had to think about what he would do if they were to fight on the mat. Prochazka has seen a common problem with many past Teixeira opponents: the inability to switch into survival mode while on the ground fighting the Brazilian champion.
Prochazka is familiar with Teixeira’s grappling and has witnessed fighters surrender position to Teixeira, then attempt to escape from the ground to take their feet back. While Prochazka may not be looking to shoot for double-leg takedowns against a noted submission specialist like Teixeira, he promises to make the champion pay in every position in the fight — whether that’s standing or on the mat.
“With all respect, I have to be dominant on the ground,” Prochazka said. “Not like other opponents who are just taking Glover’s game, they just start defending. My game is not defending.
” My game is always attacking and I want to hold the dominating positions. It doesn’t matter
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