“I knew that, I knew that,” Prochazka insists, acknowledging that Teixeira had likely done just enough before the finishing sequence to be headed for a decision win. “I knew I didn’t do enough for a win before the end of the fight. I showed a horrible performance, but still I won.”
An exhausted but relieved Jiri Prochazka is congratulated by his team after beating Glover Teixeira
The last thing most adventurers would wish to do after having escaped a storm is seek out its eye once again, but that is Prochazka’s intention as he continues to call for a rematch with Teixeira.
“The one and only reason I sent him the offer is because I want to show why I’m the champion, show my best performance. That’s all,” Prochazka says. “Now it’s up to the UFC, but I spoke with the organisation, and the best way will be to defend the title against Glover, because everybody wants that fight. Everybody saw that Glover deserves that fight, because I won 20 seconds before the end of our fight. I think that will be the best case right now. For me it doesn’t matter; I know I’m at the top. But I said Glover, and I want to keep my word.”
Prochazka’s desire to prove his worthiness as champion is no surprise to followers of his career, who know that the Czech Republic’s first ever UFC champion follows a strict code of morals, largely inspired by Japanese philosopher and samurai Miyamoto Musashi.
“I don’t know a lot of samurais, just a few true warriors, but I think the most important in my life is Musashi,” Prochazka says. “His book [The Book Of Five Rings], his life… for me it was a big inspiration. That’s why everybody’s talking about me like I’m watching the samurais, and it’s nothing more than I just read the book,” he laughs, “and I started to include these rules in my life, because I know it’s functional, it’s simple, and it’s strong. That’s the paradox, because the simplest things are the strongest.”
Prochazka became the Czech Republic’s first UFC champion by submitting Teixeira
Prochazka’s emphasis on “honour” is also tied to his dream fight in the Octagon: a clash with the light heavyweight division’s greatest champion, Jon Jones. Prochazka admits to being “curious” over the American’s apparently impending heavyweight debut and deems Jones the “best fighter I ever saw”.
As Jones evolves his phyqisue in a bid to capture gold in a second division, Prochazka is undergoing his own changes, having shaved his captivating, “Muay Thai warrior”-inspired haircut ahead of his next in-ring challenge. But the 29-year-old addresses the matter hesitantly, saying: “I don’t want to speak about the reason or what the meaning was; that’s for me something spiritual, something I don’t want to talk about. But I know I don’t need it right now – maybe later, but it’s just my personal thing and my way is now to have a [shaved] head and challenge another [fighter].”
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There will always be something enigmatic about Prochazka, the UFC’s resident samurai and sailor of stormy seas.
Yet as far as the Czech is concerned, his next venture must provide clarity – clarity over his worthiness as the UFC’s finest light heavyweight warrior.
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