Jiri Prochazka made sure he was visible cageside for the UFC 320 main event.
He has lost to Alex Pereira twice, but his recent form has put him firmly back in the light heavyweight title picture.
The 32-year-old has now picked up back-to-back wins since his rematch with ‘Poatan’. He defeated Jamahal Hill earlier this year and followed it up by finishing Khalil Rountree Jr. late in their fight on October 4.
Prochazka did not waste any time after that performance. He immediately shifted his focus to the title picture and was watching closely as Pereira avenged his earlier loss to Magomed Ankalaev in the main event.
Carlos Ulberg did not approve of Jiri Prochazka’s actions while watching Magomed Ankalaev vs Alex Pereira 2
It was not just what happened after the fight that caught people’s attention. Carlos Ulberg, who was also in attendance, had a few things to say about how Prochazka carried himself throughout the evening.
Ulberg, fresh off his knockout win over Dominick Reyes in Perth just before UFC 320, is firmly in the title picture himself.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, he did not hold back when discussing Prochazka’s actions that night.
“Jiri walked in after such a good win, which was quite weird enough, but that’s all good.
“He stood right in front, pretty much blocking a lot of us. As the main event was walking out, he was just there, kinda standing in front of them as they were walking out.
“Let the boys do their thing, let them focus on what they need to. But he wanted to just stand right there in front of them.”
Jiri Prochazka nearly confronted Magomed Ankalaev before UFC 320
Prochazka was emotional after the UFC 320 main event, narrowly avoiding a different kind of outburst even before the fight commenced.
Ankalaev’s trash talk in the lead-up to the fight wasn’t just directed at Pereira. Others in the division caught some heat too.
Prochazka was one of those targets and admitted on The Ariel Helwani Show that he was tempted to confront Ankalaev in person, though his coach stepped in to cool him down.
“Before this fight (against Rountree Jr.), I was prepared to go for his manager (Ali Abdelaziz) or Ankalaev and tell him, ‘What the f— was this s—? Why? Why you did that? I didn’t attack you with anything, so why you spoke these bull—?’
“My coach told me, ‘Jiri, calm down. Our fight is Khalil Rountree right now. Let’s be focused for this one. Don’t be focused on anybody else.’
“I just kept that, yeah. And I’m happy I did that. I don’t like to be focused on anybody else before a fight.”
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