UFC light-heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka has vacated his title after suffering a serious shoulder injury in training.
The Czech champion was due to defend his belt in a rematch with former champion Glover Teixeira at UFC 282 on December 10 but opted to give up his belt upon learning he faces up to a year on the sidelines. Teixeira rejected the chance to fight a leading contender for the vacant strap, meaning Jan Blachowicz's clash with Magomed Ankalaev will now be for the 205lb belt.
UFC president Dana White confirmed the seriousness of Prochazka when he told Yahoo Sports : "This is the worst shoulder injury the doctors have seen in UFC history. It's really f***ing bad. His shoulder is very, very bad. He's going to have serious surgery that will require extensive rehab."
Prochazka won the belt five months ago when he choked out Teixeira in the fifth round of a thrilling clash in Singapore. It was only his third fight in the UFC but went into it on the back of a 12-fight win streak. Confirming the injury, the now former champion wrote on social media: "I am very disappointed to announce that I will not be defending my belt at UFC 282. I was injured in training in Las Vegas while finishing my preparation for my title defence in the UFC's light-heavyweight division.
"I injured my shoulder and surgery is required which will put me out of action for at least six months. Knowing this information, I have decided, after consulting with UFC management, that due to this time constraint, I will not hold light-heavyweight division and will vacate the title. I will go for the UFC belt as soon as the doctors give me the green light to fight.
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"I'm going to go for the belt and I'm going to get it no matter who currently holds it. It's always been the most important thing for me to put on the best performance and compare myself to the best. Let the best show no matter who's there now. I'll be back in six months and I'll take the title whoever holds it. I apologise to my fans, friends, family who bought tickets and made plans to come to Las Vegas to support me, it means a lot to me. I also want to apologise to Glover."
Blachowicz receives his unlikely title shot having been dethroned as champion by Teixeira last October. He returned with victory over Aleksandar Rakic when his rival was forced to retire with a knee injury in the third round. Ankalaev, meanwhile, has won nine fight in succession since he was choked out by Paul Craig in the final second of the final round of their clash in 2018. The Russian is the odds-on favourite to defeat Blachowicz in what will now be a five-round main event.
