Costa isn’t buying Jiri
Prochazka’s “mercy” narrative for his title loss against
Carlos
Ulberg.
Prochazka (32-6) and Ulberg (14-1) clashed for the vacant light
heavyweight title at UFC 327
earlier this month in Miami. Ulberg visibly injured his right knee
early in the first round, and it seemed Prochazka’s victory was
only a matter of time. However, Ulberg caught Prochazka flush with
a combination and finished him in one of the biggest
come-from-behind wins of recent times.
Prochazka later claimed that he was showing mercy after he saw that
Ulberg’s knee was compromised. Costa thinks Prochazka chose the
wrong word to describe his demeanor. “Borrachinha” believes
Prochazka got emotional when he saw Ulberg’s injured leg and
started playing around. According to Costa, the Czech wasn’t taking
the fight seriously when he noticed Ulberg’s compromised leg.
However, Costa doesn’t think Jiri was being merciful as he was
clearly trying to finish Ulberg.
Overconfidence?
“I think Jiri lets his emotions go high and sometimes take over,”
Costa told Submission Radio. “And sometimes too much
emotions can blind your perception of the real situation. I think
that happened with Jiri. When he saw his opponent hurt in front of
him, he started to act differently. He started pointing at the
center; he kind of didn’t take the fight as seriously as it needed
to be taken. He started to play. But that is not mercy. I think he
chose the wrong word to describe himself. That was not mercy,
because he kept trying to hurt his opponent more and more. He was
kicking that leg. But he became a little bit overconfident and he
was caught.”
Ulberg is currently recovering from an ACL surgery in his right
knee. This has led to concerns about the new champion potentially
having to vacate his title due to inactivity.