Jiri Prochazka and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira stepped up on short notice to headline UFC 303 following Conor McGregor's withdrawal from his scheduled headliner against Michael Chandler due to a broken toe.
When it was all said and done, Pereira retained his belt by obliterating Prochazka with a brutal head kick and ground-and-pound just 13 seconds into the second round.
Now that the dust has settled, Prochazka has revealed that he was dealing with a serious issue in the lead-up to the fight.
Prochazka said he was battling with a staph infection and dealing with a back injury.
"The last two weeks have been health-wise – even thought I said everything was fine, it wasn’t," Prochazka told CNN Prima. "This was manifested by staphylococcus, a spot on the body after a tick bite, an unhealed would on the leg, a crunch in the back after heavy lifting."
Prochazka previously said he was dealing with a staph infection before his first title fight against Pereira at UFC 295 in November 2023.
In both bouts, the result was the same.
Pereira left the cage with his belt, while Prochazka was laid out on the mat. Now, can someone clean the mats at Jiri's gym?