VIDEO: Three years since the debut of Czech samurai in UFC. Procházka knocked out his former title challenger in the second round!

Three years ago, Jiri Prochazka made his first appearance in the most famous MMA organization in the world, UFC, when he fought former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir. And it was more than a successful debut, he became the first fighter to knock out his opponent, which earned him the appreciation of the organization’s boss and fans around the world!

After completing a mission in Japan, he was lassoed by the world’s most famous MMA organization

The biggest MMA organization in the world had been after him for some time, but he set out to conquer the country that had so captivated him. Once he accomplished his mission, he set out to conquer the top of the world.

Jiri Prochazka became the first ever Czech to go fight in one of Asia’s biggest MMA organizations, Rizin. He was able to absorb the values of a true samurai from Japanese culture, which have guided him on his journey to this day.

He became a crowd favourite in Japan, as only one of his fights went to the judges’ scorecards. Then, when he became welterweight champion, the famous UFC came calling again.

But now he has answered Dana White’s call and announced his move to the top MMA league in the world in January 2020. And UFC management certainly didn’t spare him. Right off the bat, they sent the tenacious Swiss Volkan Oezdemir at him.

The latter was paid in the UFC as a puncher not to be trifled with easily. After only three fights, he got a title shot, but was no match for the legendary Daniel Cormier.

Then three years ago, Jiri Prochazka had a dream debut

Prochazka’s duel with Oezdemir has been announced for July 11, 2020 at the UFC 251 gala in Abu Dhabi. The way the Czech fighter then flew into the bout sent shockwaves around the martial arts world and immediately won the hearts of fans around the world.

“I’d call him Bruce Lee in a fight, look how he eats those punches, ” commentators praised his aggressive and unorthodox fighting style after the first exchanges. “This guy is crazy, but I love him,” they cheered.

Even though he took the hardest of Oezdemir’s punches, which sent his opponents to the floor, he kept moving forward and putting pressure on his opponent. A crazy first round full of hard exchanges ended and it was on to the second act.

Right at the start, Procházka hit a hard high kick that visibly shook the Swiss. After a while a hard combination came and Oezdemir’s limp body went down for the first time in his career.

Although he was not satisfied with his performance, the knockout was awarded a bonus for “Performance of the Night”. White found that night that he held a gem that would shuffle the cards of the welterweight division.

Less than two years later, he won the championship. However, fate had prepared another difficult test for the Czech samurai in the form of a serious shoulder injury, which forced him to relinquish his belt. Will he get it back this year?

Source: UFC, Sherdog, Youtube