Jiri Prochazka has issued a statement after withdrawing from UFC 282.

It was revealed on Wednesday that Prochazka suffered a serious shoulder injury that forced him to pull out of his UFC 282 light heavyweight title fight against Glover Teixeira. He also vacated the light heavyweight title as he didn’t want to hold up the division and has now taken to Instagram to issue a lengthy statement.

Prochazka plans to get an immediate title shot

“I am very disappointed to announce that I will not be defending my belt at @ufc 282. I was injured in training in Las Vegas while finishing my preparation for my title defense in the UFC’s light heavyweight division,” Prochazka wrote on Instagram. “I injured my shoulder and surgery is required which will put me out of action for at least 6 months. Knowing this information, I have decided, after consulting with UFC management, that due to this time constraint, I will not hold lightheavyweight division and will vacate the title. I will go for the UFC belt as soon as the doctors give me the green light to fight.

“I’m going to go for the belt and I’m going to get it no matter who currently holds it,” Prochazka continued. “It’s always been the most important thing for me to put on the best performance and compare myself to the best. Let the best show no matter who’s there now. I’ll be back in six months and I’ll take the title whoever holds it. I apologize to my fans, friends, family who bought tickets and made plans to come to Las Vegas to support me, it means a lot to me. I also want to apologize to Glover. Victory!”

Jiri Prochazka (29-3-1) won the light heavyweight title back in June at UFC 275 as he submitted Glover Teixeira. Prior to that, he knocked out Dominick Reyes and knocked out Volkan Oezdemir in his UFC debut. He’s the former RIZIN light heavyweight champion and beat the likes of Vadim Nemkov, King Mo, Fabio Maldonado, and C.B. Dollaway among others.

What do you make of Jiri Prochazka vacating the belt?