Dana White has opened up on the injury Jiri Prochazka suffered that forced him to withdraw from his title defense and vacate his belt.
Prochazka was looking to defend his belt for the first time in the main event of UFC 282 in a rematch with Glover Teixeira. Unfortunately, just a few weeks before the event, Prochazka suffered a serious shoulder injury which will keep him out for quite some time.
Dana White Says Jiri Prochazka Could Miss Considerable Time
“That night when we were in there and we’re having the meeting and we’re talking about the possibility of him fighting again, he was saying ‘I think I can come back in five months’ and all this s***,” White revealed when appearing on the Paddy Pimblett’s podcast. “The doctor was with us, too, and the doctor was like you need to start being realistic about this.
“The thing I told him was, ‘I don’t want you to put that type of pressure on you where you feel like you have to come back in five or six months and destroy your shoulder again. Take the time. Do it right. Get the right surgery’, and that night he decided then ‘I’m not going to hold up the division, I’m going to vacate the title.’ Stud.”
“The Worst Shoulder Injury We’ve Seen”
According to White, when the injury happened, Prochazka was in Vegas and the UFC doctors immediately checked him out. The UFC boss revealed he tore his shoulder pretty good and when his shoulder popped out and they tried to put it back in at the gym, they destroyed his shoulder.
“That night when it all went down and we had our doctor look at him, the doctor literally said in all the years of the UFC, this is the worst shoulder injury we’ve ever seen,” White said. “It’s pretty nasty. Him being the f****** savage that he is, he still wanted to fight.”
“‘No, you can’t fight, kid.’ He tore it good. What happened was it popped out and he had some guys there at the gym [try to put it back in socket] and it f****** ripped the s*** out of it and destroyed his shoulder. I’ll tell you, tell him, tell all the fighters, if anything happens to you, jump in a f****** car and go to the hospital. We will pay for everything. People think that these guys at the gym can fix your shoulder, do this s***, do that s***, don’t even risk it. Just go to the hospital. It’s crazy.”
Dana White Confirms Glover Teixeira Will Face the Winner of Blachowicz vs Ankalaev
Although Prochazka had to vacate the belt, White said they will look at him as the champion when he returns. However, with him out for likely a year, White confirms Teixeira will be next in line.
“100 percent [Glover is next],” White said. “The fight was offered to Glover. He didn’t want to take the fight. It will probably be two fights before Jiri comes back so it would be Glover.”
Of course, the vacant title is up for grabs in the main event of UFC 282 as Jan Blachowicz takes on Magomed Ankalaev.
