Jiri Prochazka vacates UFC light heavyweight title due to injury, Jan Blachowicz vs. Magomed Ankalaev now headlines UFC 282

Jiri Prochazka is no longer the UFC’s light heavyweight champion.

Prochazka was set to defend his light heavyweight title for the first time in the main event of UFC 282 against Glover Teixeira. It was an immediate rematch of their UFC 275 fight which Prochazka won by fifth-round submission.

However, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole, Prochazka has suffered an injury and withdrew from the fight. Along with that, he vacated the title while the new UFC 282 main event will see Jan Blachowicz vs. Magomed Ankalaev. UFC 282 goes down on December 10 from the T-Moblie Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

BREAKING: Jiri Prochazka PUT of UFC 282 with serious injury. Glover turned down title fight. Jiri vacated. New main event is Blachowicz vs Ankalaev. Story soon on @YahooSports

— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) November 23, 2022

“BREAKING: Jiri Prochazka PUT of UFC 282 with serious injury. Glover turned down title fight. Jiri vacated. New main event is Blachowicz vs Ankalaev,” Iole reported.

Jiri Prochazka is out of UFC 282 due to a severe orthopedic injury. Timeframe for recovery is upwards of a year. According to UFC and Jiri's representatives, it was his decision to vacate the belt out of respect for other contenders. Jiri's injury first reported by @KevinI.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) November 23, 2022

“Jiri Prochazka is out of UFC 282 due to a severe orthopedic injury. Timeframe for recovery is upwards of a year. According to UFC and Jiri’s representatives, it was his decision to vacate the belt out of respect for other contenders.”

It is surprising to see Teixeira turn down the title fight but it is also not known who he would have been fighting. Blachowicz and Ankalaev were set to fight in the co-main event of the card and will now be the main event for the vacant light heavyweight title.

Jiri Prochazka is a perfect 3-0 in the UFC as before he beat Teixeira, he knocked out Dominick Reyes and Volkan Oezdemir. He’s also the former RIZIN light heavyweight champion.

Jan Blachowicz (29-9) is coming off a TKO win over Aleksandar Rakic in a fight Rakic hurt his knee. Prior to that, he was submitted by Glover Teixeira to lose his light heavyweight title. The Pole defended the belt once with a decision win over Israel Adesanya while he won the vacant title with a KO win over Reyes.

Magomed Ankalaev (18-1) is riding a nine-fight win streak and coming off a TKO win over Anthony Smith back in July. On the win streak, he holds notable wins over Thiago Santos, Oezdemir, Nikita Krylov, and Ion Cutelaba among others.

With Prochazka-Teixeira off and Blachowicz-Ankalaev as the main event, UFC 282 is now as follows:

• Jan Blachowicz vs. Magomed Ankalaev – vacant light heavyweight title
• Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Robbie Lawler
• Paddy Pimblett vs. Jared Gordon
• Bryce Mitchell vs. Ilia Topuria
• Darren Till vs. Dricus Du Plessis
• Edmen Shabazyan vs. Dalcha Lungiambula
• Billy Quarantillo vs. Alexander Hernandez
• Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Chris Daukaus
• Erik Silva vs. TJ Brown
• Chris Curtis vs. Joaquin Buckley
• Daniel da Silva vs. Vinicius Salvador
• Ronnie Lawrence vs. Cameron Saaiman
• Jay Perrin vs. Raul Rosas Jr.
• Ovince Saint Preux vs. Philipe Lins

Who do you think will win, Jan Blachowicz or Magomed Ankalaev?