Jiri Prochazka’s UFC 327 title loss is still bothering him, and now he says the biggest swing in the fight came when Carlos Ulberg hurt his leg and pulled him mentally off the target.
Prochazka addressed the defeat in a video posted after the fight and gave a longer explanation for why his performance dropped in a bout that ended with Ulberg winning the vacant UFC light heavyweight title. He said he recognized an injury he had once fought through himself in Japan, lost focus on the finish, and never fully snapped back into the fight.
“Let’s get this down in black and white so no one comes up with any bullshit here,” Prochazka said. “Because what I’m hearing all around is complete nonsense and I have to laugh at it. So briefly and the only thing in the fight, I lost my focus there. Focus on the goal. Focus on the target and that was especially the case when Ulberg injured his leg. I know what that’s like because exactly this happened to me once in a fight in Japan. I fought through that match, but I know what it’s like. The pain, the struggle, so all credit to him for managing to keep a cool head, for catching me with that hook.”
Ulberg finished the fight in the first round in Miami and left with the UFC light heavyweight belt. For Prochazka, it was another hard turn in a title run that has been full of violence and setbacks. He won the championship in June 2022 with a fifth-round submission over Glover Teixeira, vacated it after a severe shoulder injury, then lost title fights to Alex Pereira in November 2023 and June 2024 before earning another shot against Ulberg.
“But I can say for myself that I know from the moment that happened to him, I wasn’t at 100% anymore. I was at maybe 40, 50% of my performance and I was just sparring and waiting for the referee to stop the fight at any moment.”
Jiri Prochazka says UFC 327 was one of his biggest mistakes
Prochazka said the loss came down to a major error on his side, not bad luck.
“It was a big mistake,” Prochazka said. “Maybe one of the biggest. I don’t want to beat myself up about it nonstop. Because the most important thing is to always learn from it and move forward stronger. So that’s it.”
He also fired back at Paulo Costa, Magomed Ankalaev, and the rest of the critics who jumped in after the loss.
“As for responding to all these so-called experts, [Paulo] Costa, [Magomed] Ankalaev and all the other ‘experts,’” Prochazka said. “Well, like this.”
“On top of that I don’t even know if Ankalaev is still being written by his manager or if it’s actually him.”
Outside the fight talk, Prochazka said he plans to wait about a month before starting negotiations for his next bout because he wants to stay home with his family after welcoming his first child.
“As for the next fight, I’ll start talking about negotiations for the next fight in about a month,” Prochazka said. “Because right now it’s time to focus purely and mainly on my family. Even though I’m filled with a million emotions from the fight and all those things are really battling inside me, right now I need to hold my ground at home … and just be the man of the house and enjoy this new energy that’s come to us through my daughter, our daughter.”
“I’m already looking forward to the next opponent, the next round of training. To strengthen it again, to be a little better, to stay on the way. Strength and honor.”
“This match has just lit the fire in me even more,” Prochazka said. “And I believe that before Carlos returns to the fight, I will fight for the title.”
Prochazka did not blame the referee, the injury, or bad luck. He blamed the moment he lost the target.
