How did former UFC champion Jiri Prochazka respond to Khamzat Chimaev's claims of besting him in sparring? Here is his statement
Jiri Prochazka doesn't appear pleased with Khamzat Chimaev's comments about the details of their sparring sessions.
'Borz' recently appeared on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani and stated that he had sparred with Prochazka during the Czech fighter's days as the RIZIN light heavyweight champion. According to Chimaev, he dominated the sparring sessions:
"Me and Jiri [trained together] long time before when he was fighting [in] RIZIN, I was fighting in Brave. We was training together in gym… I see me submit him many times, I beat him many times. How he became a champ, how I don’t know, maybe it's too [many] bad fighters in this division."
The former UFC light heavyweight champion responded to Chimaev with the following:
"Which person needs to speak again and again about this four years old information. [Inside of the gym] information. Man, when we meet next time in the cage, I will show you my true power. I will not take it lightly anymore. Don't speak about others too much, love [yourself] some more."
Khamzat Chimaev responded to the video on Instagram and posted the following:
"See you soon boy... Respect... Let's fight in Sweden, June or July."
See the post below:
Jiri Prochazka suffered a terrible shoulder injury while preparing to defend his light heavyweight title against Glover Teixeira at UFC 282 in December 2022. He required surgery on the injury and decided to vacate the title instead of holding up the division. Prochazka's return date is unclear, and a bout against Khamzat Chimaev is unlikely for now, given 'Borz's' ambition to win a welterweight and middleweight title.
Michael Bisping comments on the recent tiff between Jiri Prochazka and Khamzat Chimaev
Michael Bisping has drawn on his past experience of "tapping and telling" to analyze the recent back-and-forth between Jiri Prochazka and Khamzat Chimaev.
Bisping famously had a heated rivalry with Luke Rockhold, which stemmed from 'The Count' revealing details of their sparring sessions.
Bisping believes that Chimaev's multi-division title aspirations may be helped even further following his war of words with the former light heavyweight champion. 'Borz' has stated that he wants to win UFC titles at welterweight and middleweight, and could soon be looking at a bout against Jiri Prochazka for the 205-pound title in the future.
Michael Bisping stated:
"I can't say anything because I've done it myself, that is what started the whole rivalry with myself and Luke Rockhold, which is why I know that doing this is a bad idea... A lot changes in four years. The reality is I love Khamzat Chimaev... [but] whatever goes down in the gym doesn't really matter. What happens in the gym compared to what happens on fight night are two drastically different things."
Watch Bisping's take on the Chimaev-Prochazka tiff below: