Jiri Prochazka touches upon spending days inside a locked room without food - "Take power from your mind, from the concentration, and show it in the cage"
UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka has detailed his experience after locking himself in a room without food in preparation for his rematch with Glover Teixeira at UFC 282.
Prochazka stunned the world at UFC 275 earlier this year when he submitted the Brazilian jui-jitsu expert with just 28 seconds left in the fifth round. The bout was an all-out war between both men, and each had the opportunity to finish the fight before its eventual conclusion. The rear-naked choke victory for 'Denisa' was the first time Teixeira had been submitted in his MMA career.
Following their five-round epic, it wasn't long after that the UFC announced they would be running it back. The Brazilian veteran was up on two of the three judges' scorecards heading into the fifth round, which was deemed enough for an immediate rematch.
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#UFC275 Official Scorecards: Glover Teixeira vs Jiri Prochazka (@Jiri_BJP)
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Now, in a recent interview with ESPN MMA, Jiri Prochazka has shared some details about his preparations for the rematch. The 30-year-old lives his life by the samurai code and explained the mental strength he gets by locking himself away:
"One thing, it's about to searching your inner power. Inner power in the quiet places. Where you can take the power from your mind, from the concentration, and show it in the cage... I've done this many times and it's part of my training."
Watch the full interview here:
Jiri Prochazka explains why he no longer trains with Henry Cejudo
UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka has revealed why he decided to leave Henry Cejudo's gym for his UFC 282 rematch with Glover Teixeira.
Prior to the first bout at UFC 275, Prochazka joined Cejudo's gym to work on his grappling and wrestling defense. The 30-year-old saw 'Triple C' as the perfect teacher from whom to learn to counteract Teixeira's Brazilian jiu-jitsu. It proved successful as he thwarted multiple submission attempts by the former champ throughout the fight.
Surprisingly, Jiri Prochazka has opted not to rejoin Henry Cejudo and his gym for the rematch and is instead training with Xtreme Couture MMA in Las Vegas. He praised Cejudo for his coaching but explained that he wanted to use the UFC's Performance Insitute:
"I spoke with Henry last week about some technique, about some training sessions. I was in his gym for skills, to share our knowledge about training. My knowledge, his knowledge and he's a very good person like a coach, like someone who can teach you something. He's a very smart and I am very appreciative. And I'm still in contact with him. But... I like to be here in Vegas [in] UFC Performance Institute. There is I have good foundation for physiotherapy and good conditioning, training."
Catch the champ explaining his decision here: