“Small Czech Republic has now a champion”- Jiri Prochazka reveals what it meant for him to become the first UFC champ of his country
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Prochazka welcomed by his hometown after UFC 275 victory
Jiri Prochazka left home as a fighter but returned to the Czech Republic as a Champion. To welcome their new champion, the people of the republic showed up in droves to show Jiri the love and adoration he deserves.
Prochazka faced Glover Texiera in a 5 round phone booth brawl at UFC 275. For the light heavyweight champion, the bout was Glover’s first defense and the 42-year-old unfortunately came up short. In a back and forth fight that saw both men get shaken off their feet, Jiri was able to pull off the improbable feat of submitting Glover Texiera.
As Round 5 progressed it was clear to everyone that despite Jiri’s monumental effort he would come up short on the scorecards. Being the samurai he is, Jiri was able to come back in round 5 after being wobbled and taken down by Texiera. With less than 35 seconds to go on the clock, Jiri would sink in a hail Mary RNC to the truest sense of the phrase and to the shock of the world manage to make Texiera tap out with less than 28 seconds in the fight.
“It was emotional”- Jiri Prochazka didn’t expect such a warm reception from the people of Czech Republic
Prochazka talked about the moment on The MMA Hour, and he revealed what went through his mind when he saw all the people gathered to welcome him. He stated, “I didn’t expect that. In the Czech Republic, it was a big thing. It was a big thing because it’s the highest peak for the MMA fighters for them, and I won that. And I know it was like 50-50, but I won that fight, and I think the people here, I think they can be proud for that. That the small Czech Republic has now a champion.”
Talking about the crowd Jiri said, “I just wanted to share that energy, the victory energy with them. Because the people from Czech Republic who are watching MMA and they understand MMA, they are really energetic people, and they were so, so, so loud. It was amazing. It was emotional, and I’m glad to represent Czech Republic in the UFC.”
Jiri is now the champion of one of the most exciting divisions of the UFC, and he is ready to start a new chapter of his life, he would most probably defend his belt against the former champion, Jan Blachowicz, but if UFC decides to give Glover another chance, we might see the epic rematch between these two go down sooner than we expected.
Also read – “I need to end him” Jiri Prochazka details his thoughts before legendary Round 5 against Glover Teixeira
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Suryansh Thakur
(1600 Articles Published)