Henry Cejudo is not giving Jiri Prochazka any grace for the mercy explanation after UFC 327. After Jiri Prochazka admitted he “literally f–ked it up” in the loss to Carlos Ulberg, Cejudo said the whole idea of easing up in that spot sounds like excuse-making, not some honorable fight philosophy.
The heat comes from Prochazka’s claim that he pulled back after Ulberg hurt his knee in the opening round of their vacant light heavyweight title fight. Instead of closing the show, Prochazka gave Ulberg room, and Carlos Ulberg ended the fight moments later with the knockout that won him the belt.
Imagine watching Carlos Ulberg KO Jiri Prochazka on this screen 🤯
(via @WonderboyMMA) pic.twitter.com/S3i18cUAYi
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 12, 2026
Henry Cejudo says Jiri Prochazka had to finish the job
Speaking on his podcast with Kamaru Usman, Cejudo said:
“I think the biggest lesson learned here for Jiri, I mean if he’s ‘The Last Samurai,’ he’s got to finish the job.”
He kept going and said:
“That’s what you’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to hurt somebody. It’s your kick that did that damage. Particularly now that Jiri’s about to have a kid, you should not have mercy on nobody.”
Cejudo then drove the point straight through the wall and added:
“Whose parents do you think are crying? You either want your parents to cry or their parents to cry. I think that’s something he needs to deep down see if he really wants to keep it 100 in fighting. I think the mercy, or whatever that was, I think sometimes those are just excuses. For Ulberg, he did the right thing. He went for broke.”
That is now the pattern around this loss. Prochazka’s explanation already got hammered once, and Cejudo just added another hard shot to the pile. Between Ray Longo ripping the same idea apart after UFC 327, this thing has turned into a second debate hanging over Prochazka almost as much as the knockout itself.
