After the dust had settled and his fight with Volkan Oezdemir was over, Jiri Prochazka was not happy with his UFC debut.
The light heavyweight bout topped the preliminary card at UFC 251 on Saturday. In front of a massive televised audience tuning in for the premiere of “Fight Island,” Prochazka engaged in a firefight with the former title challenger. The Czech newcomer and former RIZIN champion, one of the UFC’s hottest free agent signings in years, was hurt early in the fight. But in the second round, he connected with a head kick that wobbled Oezdemir, and in no time flat, went in for the kill.
End result: a TKO win for Jiri Prochazka. And a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. Which should help put a smile back on his face, despite feeling he took too much damage in the fight.
The second of those two bonuses went to Davey Grant, who opened the card with a third-round knockout of Martin Day. Grant, who has a history of injuries that have kept him out of the octagon, once again took severe damage in the fight. After being transported to hospital for precautionary reasons, a broken jaw (two places) and nose were uncovered, meaning Grant could once again be on hiatus.
Just got back from the hospital. Jaw is fractured in 2 places and also a fractured nose! But thank you @danawhite @seanshelby @ufc for making this happen it’s everything I wanted and I’m so grateful to have had this opportunity 🙏🏻 respect to Martin Day true warrior 👊🏻 https://t.co/04mo7crGKm
— Davey Grant (@DaveyGrantMMA) July 12, 2020
At least the extra coin will help.
Fight of the Night honors, meanwhile, went to a thrilling second take for Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade. In a closely contested battle that left Namajunas looking a little worse for the wear, she picked up the split decision victory in the second bout of the PPV card.
