Dana White has opened up on the injury that Jiri Prochazka has sustained.
It was revealed on Wednesday that Prochazka has suffered a serious shoulder injury that saw him withdraw from his UFC 282 title fight against Glover Teixeira. He also decided to vacate the belt.
According to Prochazka’s team, he decided to vacate the belt so he wasn’t holding up the division. The injury will also sideline him for roughly a year and Dana White revealed it’s the worst shoulder injury in UFC history.
“This is the worst shoulder injury the doctors have seen in UFC history,” White told Yahoo Sports. “It’s really f***ing bad. His shoulder is very, very bad. He’s going to have serious surgery that will require extensive rehab.”
Dana White said the UFC met with Jiri Prochazka on Tuesday to discuss the next steps and he was the one brought up about him giving up the belt. With that, Magomed Ankalaev will take on Jan Blachowicz for the belt but that wasn’t the original fight, instead, the UFC wanted Teixeira vs. Ankalaev.
“We met with Jiri last night and listen, this guy is one of the classiest humans of all-time,” White said. “He is such a warrior and was so bummed out. He brought up stepping aside to us before we ever got there. He’s going to be out a long time and at some point, we would probably have had to strip him. But he brought it up to us and said out of respect for the other fighters, he didn’t want to hold up the division. Let me tell you, that kid’s a stud, man, to react like that.
“We offered Glover the fight [against Ankalaev]. For some reason, he didn’t want the fight, so we had to move on,” White said. “If we couldn’t have the rematch, getting Ankalaev, who has the second-longest winning streak in light heavyweight history, and Blachowicz, who is the former champion, is really fortunate. It all fell into place for us as it often seems to do. But that’s a great fight, too, and now it’s for the full title.”
As of right now, Jiri Prochazka will undergo surgery and then have rehab. Once he is able to fight again, White confirms Prochazka will get a title fight in his return.
What do you make of Dana White revealing Jiri Prochazka’s shoulder injury is the worst in UFC history?