Rivalries: Jiri Prochazka

Those looking for electricity in their mixed martial artists need to look no further than Jiri Prochazka.

“BJP” will return to the stage for the first time in nearly 17 months when he meets Alex Pereira for the vacant Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title in the UFC 295 headliner this Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Prochazka, 31, enters the Octagon on the strength of a 13-fight winning streak that has pushed his overall record to a remarkable 29-3-1. He has secured 28 of those 29 victories via knockout, technical knockout or submission, 23 of them inside one round.

As Prochazka makes final preparations for his forthcoming showdown with Pereira at 205 pounds, a look at a few of the rivalries that have helped shape his career to this point:

Bojan Velickovic

The explosive and naturally violent Prochazka started his professional MMA career with four consecutive finishes—none lasted longer than 2:48—before he ran into Velickovic in the Supreme Fighting Championship 1 headliner on Dec. 9, 2012 in Belgrade, Serbia. It did not go according to plan. Velickovic moved inside on the Czech with straight punches, executed a takedown from the clinch and applied his ground-and-pound, steadily increasing the intensity of his blows. Prochazka ultimately surrendered his back, went belly down on the canvas and absorbed further punishment until the stoppage was called.

Vadim Nemkov

Prochazka emerged as the last man standing in the Rizin Fighting Federation light heavyweight grand prix semifinals when he was awarded a technical knockout over the Russian in between the first and second rounds of their “Iza no Mai” pairing on Dec. 31, 2015 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The two men took turns leading the dance, as Prochazka flexed his superiority in the standup exchanges and Nemkov answered with takedowns, positional control, ground-and-pound and repeated submission attempts. However, the future Bellator MMA champion paid a steep price for the gains he made. Nemkov suffered significant damage to his left eye and exhausted himself to such a degree that it became evident he had crossed the point of no return. When the bell sounded to conclude Round 1, the Fedor Emelianenko protégé remained on the canvas, indicated he could not reach his corner under his own power and conceded defeat. Unfortunately, there was no carry-over effect for Prochazka. He was felled by a one-punch knockout from Muhammad Lawal in the tournament final.

Muhammed Lawal

A little more than three years after their initial encounter, Prochazka landed his desired rematch with “King Mo” and made the most of the opportunity. “Denisa” captured the inaugural Rizin Fighting Federation light heavyweight championship when he buried Lawal with punches in the third round of their Rizin 15 main event on April 21, 2019 at Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. Prochazka drew the curtain 3:02 into Round 3. The Czech never stopped hurling punches at Lawal and eventually wore down the former Strikeforce titleholder with merciless pace. Prochazka utilized an effective sprawl to steer clear of takedowns, drew the Murfreesboro, Tennessee, native into a firefight and methodically chipped away at his resolve with effective combination punching. By the time they reached the third round, the proverbial writing was on the wall. Prochazka sprawled out of a desperation takedown, turned up the volume and swarmed the American Top Team rep with punches, flooring him with two right uppercuts. As soon as Lawal hit the canvas, referee Minoru Toyonaga moved in to prevent unnecessary carnage.

Glover Teixeira

Prochazka put away the revered Brazilian with a no-hooks rear-naked choke and laid claim to the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title in the UFC 275 main event on June 12, 2022 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Teixeira capitulated 4:32 into Round 5, suffering the only submission defeat of his 42-fight career. Back and forth they went for four-plus rounds, exchanging takedowns, dominant positions, submission attempts and heavy leather. Neither man was willing to give in to the pain or punishment. Teixeira carved out a horrendous gash above his opponent’s left eye with a savage elbow strike in the second round before Prochazka returned the favor in the third, opening a cut across the bridge of his counterpart’s. As they entered Round 5, it was anyone’s fight. Teixeira executed takedown, achieved full mount and threatened with an arm-triangle choke. However, Prochazka never considered surrender as an option. He slipped out of Teixeira’s grasp, wheeled behind him and snuck his arms in place for the choke. His powerful squeeze and fatigue combined to do the rest, and they were enough to end Teixeira’s unlikely reign atop the 205-pound weight class.