Jiri Prochazka will be the backup for Jan Blachowicz vs Glover Teixeira fight at UFC 267

UFC light-heavyweight contender Jiri Prochazka will be serving as the backup fighter if anyone pulls out from UFC 267 matchup between UFC light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira.

Jiri Prochazka to serve as backup fighter for Jan Blachowicz vs. Glover Teixeira at UFC 267 (@DamonMartin, @guicruzzz) https://t.co/yUL0BnvqY3 pic.twitter.com/bcIgZsRDQc
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) August 4, 2021

According to the latest reports, the no.2 raked UFC light-heavyweight fighter Jiri Prochazka will be the backup fighter for the main event fight between UFC light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira which is scheduled for UFC 267 and will be taking place in Abu Dhabi.

UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz will seek his second title defense against Glover Teixeira. The fight was supposed to take place at UFC 266 in September but then the fight was delayed to UFC 267 which takes place in October.

Blachowicz is coming off arguably the biggest win of his career, a five-round title defense against then-undefeated middleweight champion Israel Adesanya on March 6. The Polish champ won the vacant belt by knocking out Dominick Reyes in September. On the other hand, his opponent Glover Teixeira at the age of 41 is the No.1 ranked fighter in that division. He is riding an amazing 5 fight win streak and is coming off a brilliant TKO finish of former title challenger Thiago Santos in November 2020.

Now Jiri Prochazka is expected to travel to the event and cut weight to stay ready for the fight just in case either Blachowicz or Teixeira are unable to compete.

Jiri signed a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in January 2020. He made his promotional debut against former UFC Light Heavyweight title challenger Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 251. He won via knockout in the second round. Prochazka was expected to face former two–time UFC Light Heavyweight Championship title challenger Dominick Reyes at UFC Fight Night 186. However, in late January, it was reported that Reyes was pulled from the fight, citing injury, and the bout was rescheduled for May 1 at UFC on ESPN. In a back and forth fight, Prochazka destroyed Reyes with his volume and knocked Reyes unconscious with a spinning back elbow in the second round.

Now with just two UFC fights in his bag, Jiri is ready to be the backup and if the opportunity arises he might as well fight for the UFC light-heavyweight championship sooner than he thinks. If that scenario doesn’t play well for him, he was also in talks to fight against Aleksandar Rakic for the next challenger for the belt. That fight might be next for him if he doesn’t get to fight at UFC 267.

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