Should Jiri Prochazka have been given a chance to turn the game around? Coaches answer the question the MMA world is asking. How did they evaluate his performance?

A question that is asked not only by the Czech MMA community. Was the Jiri Prochazka vs. Alex Pereira fight stopped prematurely? Martin Karaivanov and Jaroslav Hovězák, coaches of the Czech samurai, gave their opinion and evaluated the performance of not only the referee but also their charges.

Procházka fell in the fight with Pereira, but the early termination sparked heated discussions

The night that the domestic MMA scene had been waiting for for more than a year ended up having a bitter taste not only for Czech fans. The UFC’s welterweight title is heading to Brazil, but the ending of the highly anticipated bout has sparked debate across the mixed martial arts world.

The UFC 295 gala, which left a significant Czech footprint, is now history. Unfortunately, Jiri Prochazka was unable to regain the UFC title when he fell to Alex Pereira. The latter caught him in the second round with a crushing left hook accompanied by hard elbow strikes.

After those, referee Marc Goddard decided to stop the fight. It was the verdict of the experienced referee that sparked heated discussions in the MMA world, a large part of which leaned towards those who saw the end of the fight as premature.

Although many fighters, fans and pundits criticized Goddard’s decision, Jiri Prochazka himself kept the face of a true warrior. Immediately in his post-fight interview in the cage, he stood up for the respected referee and accepted defeat with honor.

In the evening’s entry on his Instagram, though, he couldn’t help thinking he could have used a few more seconds. However, he still respected the referee’s verdict and vowed to come back even stronger.

The Czech samurai’s coaches also sided with the critics of the judge’s verdict

Procházka’s coaches Jaroslav Hovězák and Martin Karaivanov also commented on the controversy. They evaluated the performance of the Czech samurai in the title fight.

“I think the fight was ended prematurely,” Hovězák told CNN Prima News. “Jirka was naked, but he has been a few times. I thought Marc Goddard ended it on his elbows, but he stopped it when Jirka got out of the most pressure, he was on his back and Pereira was overrunning.”

“For me, the fight was stopped early because Jiri has gotten out of worse situations in the past,” Karaivanov chimed in with his opinion. “Maybe he was out for a little while, but so was Dominick Reyes. This was definitely a premature stoppage in the main event and title fight.”

How did they assess their charge’s performance?

And how did they evaluate their charge’s performance? “Jirka was so cautious at the beginning, but the match was going well. It was before the end, but he didn’t go for it completely, which was a pity when Pereira was naked,” Hovězák recalled the beginning of the second round, in which Procházka put his opponent under pressure.

“There was a lack of predation after the finish. And I don’t know if it was nerves… Of course we had some health problems, but we won’t make excuses for that. But it wasn’t quite Jiri,” he said about his ward.

“For the next time, it’s a signal to push only our game, to follow our strategy. Tobe attentive and not to make mistakes,” he explained.

But he did not forget to praise the Brazilian’s performance. “Pereira’s strategy was: simple fight. He was just waiting, putting bombs in there, calf kicks, waiting for straights. It was really well done tactically,” he praised the newly crowned champion of the division.

Hopefully, Procházka will soon bounce back from the loss and come back even stronger. Although he has been a professional MMA fighter for over a decade, he is still only 31 years old and thus has his entire career ahead of him.

Source: UFC, CNN Prima News