Following his vicious knockout loss at UFC 303, Jiri Prochazka has sent a heartfelt if not slightly concerning message to his supporters.
Standing tall with his head held high in the face of another brutal defeat, former light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka will forever hold the respect and admiration of the entire MMA fanbase.
Now, only a few hours removed from his vicious second-round knockout loss to Alex Pereira, BJP has shared a poignant but concerning statement on the state of his UFC career.
Jiri Prochazka shares first post since KO loss to Alex Pereira
Jiri Prochazka is now 1-2 in three UFC title fights and will likely have a tough time scaling the mountain once again in the hopes of a fourth shot at undisputed glory; with Alex Pereira now putting an emphatic end to their rivalry with back-to-back second-round stoppages.
An obviously dejected Jiri Prochazka took to social media in the immediate aftermath of his KO loss to ‘Poatan’, with the Czech Samurai acknowledging both his supporters and his UFC 303 opponent.
“Hello everyone, thank you for all of your support. Thanks to you, Alex, for the fight,” said Prochazka, simply noting that the Brazilian powerhouse “was better” than he was when the cage doors locked behind them.
Yet BJP then made a rather poignant remark, one that might cause concern for his die-hard fans whilst at the same time, proving once again that Prochazka holds one of the most fascinating and elite mindsets in all of MMA.
“Only one thing was on my mind, that I need to evolve to the next level or don’t fight again. So simple… To be strongest, this is the way. Thank you. See you at the gym.”
MORE BLOODY ELBOW NEWS
⚡️🙏⚡️
— Jiri BJP Prochazka (@jiri_bjp) June 30, 2024
//\ pic.twitter.com/LqbiaMQUb4
- UFC 303: Conor McGregor reacts to Alex Pereira’s KO win over Jiri Prochazka
Whilst Pereira was indeed ‘better’ than Prochazka on fight night, the Brazilian superstar also revealed that the head kick that finished BJP was actually implemented into the gameplan only a few minutes before making their entrances.
Remarkably, Pereira watched a video of Prochazka warming in the locker room at the T-Mobile Arena that was shared on social media; identified that BJP wasn’t avoiding calf kicks correctly, and devised a plan to land a head kick finish… Which came to pass just 13 seconds into the second round.
UFC champion says Jiri Prochazka should step back from MMA
Whilst Alex Pereira will likely be matched up with Magomed Ankalaev, the 19-1 Russian claimed that he’d easily knock out the champion on social media, fans are now starting to ponder where Prochazka goes next.
According to UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley, Prochazka should take a step back from the sport for the foreseeable future, warning against taking a quick turnaround fight following such a brutal KO loss.
“Jiri, what’s next for him? F*** I don’t know, I think he takes- I mean I don’t know how old Jiri is- but I think you take some serious time off.
“Bro was in a dark room for three days, no light, no nothing, no sound, no Happy Dads, three days, three nights working on demons – so the dude’s already got demons I’m assuming.”
A reminder that Prochazka has now fought three times in the past eight months, two of which ended in vicious KO losses to Pereira, sandwiched between a taxing back-and-forth war with Aleksandar Rakic.
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Looking at the top of the light heavyweight division, and under the assumption that Ankalaev will indeed be next for Pereira, there are two potential future opponents who are currently without a fight: former champions Jamahal Hill and Jan Blachowicz.
Whilst it would be fascinating to see how Prochazka would fare against Hill, the possibility of holding a Fight Night card somewhere in continental Europe in front of a sold-out stadium of Polish and Czech MMA fans would be by far the more tempting option for the UFC.
As fans with Prochazka a speedy recovery, the former light heavyweight champion slips to 30-4-1 as a professional Mixed Martial Artist.
- POATAN: Alex Pereira eyes historic move to heavyweight after KO in UFC 303 main event
Related Topics
Alex PereiraJan BlachowiczJiri ProchazkaLight heavyweightMagomed AnkalaevSean O'MalleyUFC 303
