The MMA community loses it upon the news of Jiri Prochazka vacating the UFC light heavyweight title after a serious injury and forcing a change to the UFC 282 main event.
One day before Thanksgiving in the U.S., the upcoming UFC 282 pay-per-view event has been flipped on its head.
Per a report from Yahoo’s Kevin Iole, Jiri Prochazka has reportedly suffered a serious injury that has not only forced him out of the upcoming main event UFC light heavyweight championship rematch with Glover Teixeira but has also forced him to vacate the championship.
Teixeira reportedly has turned down an opportunity to fight someone else for the vacant title, and the UFC has elected to go with former champion Jan Blachowicz vs. Magomed Ankalaev as the pay-per-view’s new main event. The winner of Blachowicz vs. Ankalaev will become the new champion.
Twitter reacts to Jiri Prochazka vacating title due to injury, Jan Blachowicz vs. Magomed Ankalaev as new UFC 282 main event
Jiri probably vacated the LHW belt on some weird spiritual samurai shit lmao
— Eddie (@DepressedDETN) November 23, 2022
I’m nervous to hear what Jiri’s injury is #ufc282 #ufc
— Jerett LaFromboise (@JerettLaFrombo1) November 23, 2022
im so confused, why the fuck did jiri vacate?!! pic.twitter.com/buYDPDaf4x
— fernando (@fernand0jg27) November 23, 2022
Why would Jiri vacate the title though, that makes zero sense https://t.co/uRyCp5SXfr
— Jeff MacDonald (@jmacyourlife) November 23, 2022
The worst part about the Jiri news is having to see Iole's profile pic
— Brett Awesome (@BrettAwesome) November 23, 2022
I get Jiri letting the belt go but Glover not wanting to fight for the belt is what I'm lost about https://t.co/YURQnCFbZw
— Jason Williams (@jasoneg33) November 23, 2022
Jiri got injured, pulled out of his fight with Glover and vacated the lhw belt. Glover declined a replacement. Jan is gonna get finished by Magomed. pic.twitter.com/KDiImSR7dk
— Steven 🐍 (@stevensconquest) November 23, 2022
Jiri: Thanks for the cheese 🧀
— Flowing Elbow (@ChaosParker) November 23, 2022
#UFC282 I would not be surprised if Glover Texeira announces his retirement following the injury if Jiri Prochazka 😭😭😭
— TheDileMMA (@the_dile_mma) November 23, 2022
I don’t care who the fuck has that belt. Jiri Prochazka is the fucking champion. Don’t care if it’s Jan or Ank.
— кιиgмукє (@MykeJitsu) November 23, 2022
Jiri Just vacated the title and Glover doesn’t get to immediately fight back for it?? 🤣🤣🤣
— HIM (@BurnWithBrando) November 23, 2022
Jiri vacating the belt?
— Two Amigos (@Poppaplunge) November 23, 2022
Sounds like USADA was onto something.
They hit him more times in 1 month than some fighters see in 5 years.
I bet he had abnormally high test levels and the got a huge blood panel sample to see if he tapered off.
💰 The 🏠 #UFC282
Damn Jiri 🫤
— BaldymanMMA (@BaldymanMMA) November 23, 2022
Prochazka defeated Teixeira via fifth-round submission earlier this year at UFC 275 — a fight considered a favorite to win Fight of the Year honors. Teixeira was up 3-1 on the judges’ scorecards before the finish.
Blachowicz, currently ranked No. 2 in the UFC’s light heavyweight rankings, will enter the new UFC 282 main event with wins in six of his last seven fights. He originally won the then-vacant at UFC 253 with a second-round TKO of Dominick Reyes. In his only successful title defense, Blachowicz became the first man to defeat then-UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in MMA, scoring a unanimous decision in their UFC 259 superfight.
Blachowicz lost the championship to Teixeira at UFC 267 via second-round submission.
Ankalaev, the No. 3 contender currently, has not lost since dropping his UFC debut, winning nine straight. He most recently fought at UFC 277, where he finished Anthony Smith.