It had been a while since we’ve seen a championship-caliber fighter in another promotion cross over to the UFC and make a big splash in his debut.
But then, it’s been a while since a competitor like [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] has come down the pike, too. The former Rizin light heavyweight champion out of the Czech Republic hammed it up a little Saturday night at UFC 251, then scored a vicious knockout of former UFC title challenger [autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag].
A head kick, followed soon after by a brutal right hook that connected on the jaw, ended things 49 seconds into the second round.
“I want to take a title – that’s my mission. That’s my mission here,” Prochazka said after the fight.
The opening round was as unorthodox as it was entertaining. Time and again, Prochazka (27-3-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) dropped his hands, put his chin forward, and dared Oezdemir (17-5 MMA, 5-4 UFC) to tag him. Oezdemir obliged, tagging his foe with authority on several occasions. But Prochazka gave the shots as good as he got them, and whenever the dust settled, Procazhka immediately resumed his mind games.
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He was all business in the second round, though. A wicked left-footed head kick wobbled Oezdemir. Prochazka thought about going for a running knee, then instead opted for a jab, followed by the pinpoint right hook that knocked Oezdemir cold.
That made the 11th consecutive win for Prochazka, and the 24th by knockout or TKO. Oezdemir had a two-fight winning streak snapped.
The light heavyweight bout closed out the preliminary card at UFC 251 at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. It aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+ ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 251 results include:
- Jiri Prochazka def. Volkan Oezdemir via KO (punch) — Round 2, 0:49
- Muslim Salikhov def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
- Makwan Amirkhani def. Danny Henry via technical submission (anaconda choke) – Round 1, 3:15
- Leonardo Santos def. Roman Bogatov via unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 29-26)
- Marcin Tybura def. Maxim Grishin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Raulian Paiva def. Zhalgas Zhumagulov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Karol Rosa def. Vanessa Melo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
- Davey Grant def. Martin Day via knockout (punch) – Round 3, 2:38
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