While Jiri
Prochazka emerged from the
UFC 275 headliner with the light heavyweight belt in his
possession, he found plenty of room for improvement in his
title-winning effort against Glover
Teixeira.
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“From my side it was a horrible fight, horrible performance,”
Prochazka said at the UFC 275 post-fight press conference.
“Honestly. You saw that fight. I just survived some moments.
“My life’s plan is to be dominant in the fight and not just be a
survivor. To be a hunter, and that will be my next fight, and I
will show that. I don’t want to fight like that. It’s tough, it’s
full of blood, and it’s not beautiful – maybe it’s beautiful for
you, you like to be entertained. But for a fighter, I like to fight
clean.”
In a bout full of momentum swings, Prochazka was less than a minute
from a loss on the scorecards when he locked in a rear-naked choke
for an improbable submission victory at the 4:32 mark of Round 5.
The Czech light heavyweight was in dire positions on multiple
occasions against Teixeira, but he always seemed to find a way to
reverse his fortunes.
“He didn’t surprise me with nothing,” Prochazka said. “We knew all
these things, and he was successful in there. So I have to work on
that. Not just work on the training, but work on myself to stop
doing things. I know where is the mistakes in my preparation, in my
life, and what I have to change for the fight.”
Prochazka acknowledged that he needs some time to recover from a
memorable battle against Teixeira, but he nonetheless hopes to make
his first 205-pound belt defense before the end of the year. No
matter the opponent, “Denisa” vows to be better than he was at UFC
275.
“Doesn’t matter if it will be Glover or Jan, it doesn’t matter,” he
said. “For the next fight, I swear I will be another fighter. Not
like that. That was not a good performance for me.