His life-changing book was actually The Book of Five Rings, and adhering to the Bushido principles is something Prochazka believes in strongly. He is a martial artist first and foremost, and an elite fighter somewhere after that, and has spent the last year on a quest to improve his skill in order to give himself the best opportunity to be successful this weekend.
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“After my last fight, I didn’t have a break because I was focused on my bad habits from fights and to be ready to improve myself and get better in every aspect of fighting,” said Prochazka, who last competed on May 1, 2021 when he registered a second-round knockout win over former title challenger Dominick Reyes, cementing his standing as the top contender in the light heavyweight division in the process.
“(I went to many different camps),” continued Prochazka. “I was looking to do the next step, especially in the wrestling — about defense in wrestling, about attacking in wrestling. From last year where I was the backup plan for the fight between (Jan) Blachowicz and Glover, from that time in October, I was preparing to fight with the winner, so that’s the reason I was in Phoenix, in Henry Cejudo’s gym, Fight Ready, and that’s why I was in Frontline Academy in Norway.”
When we spoke, Prochazka was in Thailand, training at Bangtao Muay Thai & MMA, the new facility opened by the Hickman Brothers in Phuket earlier this year. Just as he opted to visit Fight Ready and Frontline to address what he viewed as an area of concern, he ventured to Thailand ahead of this weekend’s clash in Singapore with an eye towards getting fully acclimated to the time zone and the weather.
