Jiri Prochazka claims he had staph infection for UFC 303: ‘Even though I said everything was fine, it wasn’t’

Jiri Prochazka came out on the wrong end of another Alex Pereira knockout at UFC 303 last month in Las Vegas, Nevada, but the former UFC light heavyweight champion has an excuse for his poor performance.

According to Prochazka, he was suffering from staph infection two weeks before his short-notice rematch with Pereira. Despite the ailment, Prochazka still went through with the fight and decided to test his luck against “Poatan” for a second time. Unfortunately, Pereira scored another second-round knockout and sent Prochazka back down the 205-pound ladder.

Prochazka, who is not one to make excuses for a loss, has revealed that he was battling a nasty staph infection heading into his rematch with Pereira. It stemmed from a tick bite that turned into an unhealed wound on Prochazka’s leg. Check out his explanation below:

“The last two weeks have been health-wise – even though I said everything was fine, it wasn’t,” Prochazka told CNN Prima. “This was manifested by staphylococcus, a spot on the body after a tick bite, an unhealed would on the leg, a crunch in the back after heavy lifting.”

If you don’t believe Prochazka then look at the below photo. This is after his knockout loss to Pereira at UFC 303 last week.

While it seems like Prochazka is telling the truth about having staph infection heading into UFC 303 it still doesn’t mean a whole lot. Almost every fighter enters a fight with some sort of ailment and considering UFC 303’s main event rematch was thrown together on just two weeks notice it’s likely that Pereira brought an injury into the cage as well.

Thoughts?