SINGAPORE – Jiri Prochazka attempted to kill Jan Blachowicz with kindness during their exchange after the UFC 275 main event.
Just moments after Prochazka (29-3-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) submitted Glover Teixeira to claim the light heavyweight title on Saturday’s card at Singapore Indoor Stadium, he left the octagon and got face-to-face with former champ Blachowicz (29-3-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in what looked like a bit of a heated exchange.
Cameras could not pick up the audio of what was said between the two in the moment, but once Prochazka arrived at the post-fight news conference, he was able to set the record straight.
“He was so brave,” Prochazka told reporters, including MMA Junkie, post-fight at UFC 275. “He told me something about our fight, so I share the energy with him. We will see. I will be ready. Just give me a little time to repair my face and to realize the mistakes from this fight.”
Given the current state of the 205-pound division, Blachowicz appears to be among the frontrunners to get the first crack at newly minted champ Prochazka.
Prochazka said he has no preference on what’s next for him, whether it’s Blachowicz, a rematch with Teixeira or the winner of the UFC 277 fight between Anthony Smith and Magomed Ankalaev on July 30.
There’s clearly a little extra edge between Prochazka and Blachowicz, though, but the new titleholder said there’s no animosity on his end. That’s why he opted to blow a kiss at Blachowicz as he was walking away from their exchange.
“It was a little bit friendly and little bit aggressive,” Prochazka said. “After I said to him, ‘Hey, let’s go. You are the next.’ He started to be a little bit aggressive because he saw the cameras and all these things. I think he tried to flex a lit. I said to him, ‘I love you’ because he was so aggressive. At first he was smiling to me and everything and it was good. After the fight it was aggressive. So I said, ‘I love you, Jan.’ Let’s talk in the cage like that.
