Former UFC light heavyweight titleholder Jiří Procházka has fired back at claims made by Chael Sonnen.
Procházka has been out of action with a shoulder injury that forced him to drop the 205-pound gold. Recently, “The Last Samurai” told Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour” that his shoulder now feels 100 percent.
Just a couple days after the interview, Chael Sonnen took to his YouTube Channel to question if something is amiss between Procházka and USADA. He went as far as to claim that the number of times Procházka is tested by the anti-doping agency proves his point.
Sonnen also questioned whether or not Procházka’s quick injury recovery raised some red flags for USADA. He also wondered if at some point, Procházka was pulled from the testing pool and if he was in the pool during the time his shoulder was recovering.
Jiří Procházka is strong pic.twitter.com/W8gDcBmFl6
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) August 2, 2023
Jiří Procházka Responds To Chael Sonnen
During an interview with The Allstar, Jiří Procházka responded to Sonnen’s assumption. The former UFC champion says it’s all hoopla coming from “The American Gangster.”
“After the injury and all these things, I was still in the program, USADA, all the time since UFC,” Procházka said. “So, all he’s talking about was just nothing. Where’s the problem? He said something like I get out from the program after injury. Like, I’m using something for healing myself, but USADA came to me all the time in that injury time and recovery time. So, nothing changed.
When Will Procházka Return?
Procházka went on to reveal the time frame he’s targeting for a return to the Octagon.
“Right now we speak about the date with UFC,” Procházka said. “I hope it will be this year. Maybe October, November, December. Something like that.”
Many assume that the UFC will book Jiří Procházka vs. Alex Pereira for the vacant UFC light heavyweight gold. That hasn’t been made official, but after Pereira’s split nod over Jan Blachowicz at UFC 291, it’s likely on the UFC’s radar.
