Jiri Prochazka and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira showed up on short notice to headline UFC 303 after Conor McGregor pulled out of his scheduled main event against Michael Chandler due to a broken toe.
When all was said and done, Pereira retained his belt by destroying Prochazka with a brutal head kick and ground-and-pound just 13 seconds into the second round.
What a knockout! ??#UFC303 #AlexPereira #JiriProchazka #UFC photo.twitter.com/G5AgYFem6h
— The progress report (@Theprogressrep2) June 30, 2024
Now that the dust has settled, Prochazka has revealed that he was dealing with a serious issue in the lead-up to the fight.
Prochazka said he was battling a staph infection and dealing with a back injury.
“The last two weeks have been good health-wise, even though I said everything was fine, it wasn’t,” Prochazka said. CNN Prima“This manifested itself through staphylococcus, a spot on the body after a tick bite, an unhealed wound on the leg, a cracking sound in the back after lifting heavy objects.”
? Jiri Prochazka reveals he was battling a staph infection in his rematch with Alex Pereira.
“Even though I said everything was fine, it wasn’t.
This manifested itself through staphylococci, a spot on the body after a tick bite, an unhealed wound on the leg, a crunch in… image.twitter.com/zRMBCJOgdu
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) July 5, 2024
Prochazka previously said he was dealing with a staph infection ahead of his first title fight against Pereira at UFC 295 in November 2023.
In both fights the result was the same.
Pereira walked out of the cage with his belt, while Prochazka was lying on the mat. Now, can someone clean the mats in Jiri’s gym?
