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.
“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."
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