Was Jiri Prochazka Stripped of His Title? Everything There Is to Know About UFC Star Losing His Championship

The famed UFC light heavyweight, Jiri Prochazka, made his way into the promotion in the year 2020. Since then, he has created a major fanbase for himself owing to his unconventional striking techniques. In recent times, Prochazka has been embroiled in a rivalry with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, against whom he’ll be fighting in a rematch this weekend at UFC 303. This fight marks a landmark occasion as it would be the Czech native’s sixth appearance inside the Octagon. But Prochazka shockingly boasts a title victory even though he is only five fights old in the promotion.

The 31-year-old faced the reputed former UFC light heavyweight champ and the current champ’s mentor, Glover Teixeira, at UFC 275 for the divisional crown. Prochazka, just in his third UFC fight, defeated the massively experienced Teixeira via a rear naked choke in the fifth round of the bout. But tragedy would strike soon as Prochazka lost his title. But why did he lose the championship belt? Let’s have a look at that front.

How did Prochazka lose his title?

A large chunk of UFC fans with deeper knowledge may also label the UFC light heavyweight championship as a cursed one. Although, it’s not unusual for even UFC champions to get injured. But within just a few months, two UFC light heavyweight champions, including Jamahal Hill, had to relinquish their title due to injuries. Who’s the other one?

Yes, it’s the person we are primarily talking about here, Jiri Prochazka. It was Prochazka who was originally scheduled to have a rematch with his last rival, Teixeira, in the main event of the UFC 282. But almost half a month prior to the event, his manager, Tim Simpson, shockingly disclosed that Prochazka’s “shoulder got wrecked in a standard wrestling accident type of thing” while he was in a training session for the rematch against Glover Teixeira.

The UFC CEO, Dana White, also weighed in on this unfortunate incident. However, his words clarified that Prochazka’s injury was a terrible one. He said, “It’s really f***ing bad. His shoulder is very, very bad. He’s going to have serious surgery that will require extensive rehab”. But Prochazka earned even more fans when he disclosed that he would be relinquishing his UFC light heavyweight gold since he knew that the time required to get back would be quite long. But the UFC never stripped him of his title, though.

Well, a large chunk of fans may have also drawn the lines between the almost similar stories of Prochazka and the last UFC light heavyweight champion, Jamahal Hill’s title relinquishment. Do you know what caused ‘Sweet Dreams’ to give up his title?