New UFC light-heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka says he does not care whom he defends his belt against for the first time, only that he vows to be better than in Sunday’s thrilling win against Glover Teixeira at UFC 275 in Singapore.
The Czech, who is three bouts into his UFC career, came through a Fight of the Year contender in the main event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, submitting then-champion Teixeira with 28 seconds remaining of the contest.
Glover, 42, had won the belt in Abu Dhabi last October, becoming the second-oldest first-time champion in the promotion’s history.
Prochazka, 29, is tipped to next face former title-holder Jan Blachowicz, although Teixiera was one of a number of contenders to throw his hat into the ring immediately afterwards in asking for a rematch.
Speaking to reporters following the greatest win of his career to date, Prochazka said: “It doesn't matter if it will be Glover or Jan. For the next fight, I swear, I will be another fighter. That was not a good performance from me.
“I'm satisfied, but some moments that you saw, Glover had an advantage, and his pressure was amazing, especially for his age. He's a very tough fighter.”
The match-up was a back-and-forth affair, with both men landing huge blows and enjoying punishing success on the ground. At one point, Prochazka suffered a nasty cut just above his left eye following a barrage of elbows on the canvas from his opponent, with Teixeira also bleeding badly from midway through the clash.
However, Prochazka latched onto a rear-naked choke late into the fifth round that caused Teixeira to tap out – the Brazilian’s first career submission loss from 41 professional fights.
Having earlier described the bout as a “true war”, Prochazka told the gathered media later: “From my side, it was a horrible fight and a horrible performance. You saw the fight, I just survived some moments. My life stance is to be dominant, to be the hunter, not a survivor - and that will be shown in my next fight.
“Before the fifth round, I thought about how I had to get a finish, because it was a tough fight and sometimes you have to do whatever it takes.
“I was a little bit lazy in setting up some situations and to prepare him for the knockout and to find the moments in his striking for openings. That was my laziness in the fight.
“He didn't surprise me with anything. We knew all of the things that he had to do and he was successful in that. So I need to work on that, not just in training, but myself to stop doing things that aren't good in the fight... just what is effective against the opponent.”
As he departed the octagon, Prochazka shared a brief exchange with Blachowicz, who was watching the event from the front row. Prochazka, who made his UFC debut during Fight Island in Abu Dhabi in July 2020, said post-fight that he blew the Pole a kiss and told him him loved him, as his potential next opponent "became aggressive".
“Jan was so brave and he told me something about our fight, so I shared the energy with him,” Prochazka said, seemingly tongue in cheek. “I will be ready. Just give me time to heal my face and realise the mistakes from this fight.
As for Teixeira, he said inside the octagon that he had no plans to retire as of yet.
“I give my all,” he said. “I say all the time: live by the sword, die by the sword. I’m going to keep going.”
In the night’s other championship bout, Valentina Shevchenko retained her flyweight title with a split-decision victory against Taila Santos. The champion, who moves to a nine-fight win streak - seven of which are successful defences - prevailed 48-47, 47-48, 49-46.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
The specs
Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder
Transmission: 7-speed auto
0-100kmh 2.3 seconds
0-200kmh 5.5 seconds
0-300kmh 11.6 seconds
Power: 1500hp
Torque: 1600Nm
Price: Dh13,400,000
On sale: now
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GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
PETER%20PAN%20%26%20WENDY
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White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Power: 300hp
Torque: 420Nm
Price: Dh189,900
On sale: now
Yuki Means Happiness
Alison Jean Lester
John Murray
THE LOWDOWN
Photograph
Rating: 4/5
Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies
Director: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz
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New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
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How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
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The%20Kitchen
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