Ulberg: Prochazka's explanation for KO is 'total bullshit'

Newly crowned light heavyweight champion Carlos Ulberg tore apart the notion that Jiri Prochazka eased up on him before being knocked out at UFC 327 on Saturday.

"That's bullshit, total bullshit," Ulberg told Uncrowned's Ariel Helwani. "That's fear. That was fear that he had. That wasn't any kind of mercy - he knows, he's a fighter. That's the difference between a champion and someone who's just playing for the crowd. There was no mercy in there. He was full of fear, hesitation, and that's what got him clipped."

Ulberg appeared to blow out his knee in the opening moments of the championship bout, but Prochazka seemed reluctant to jump on the attack. Instead, Prochazka allowed the two to exchange strikes until a left hook put him down at the 3:45 mark of the first round.

In his postfight interview, Prochazka agreed with Joe Rogan's assessment that he backed off his opponent upon seeing the freak injury.

"I felt so sorry with him. ... That fight was won," Prochazka said. "I won that fight. I had it. It was in my hand, and I just left him because I just saw his injury."

The loss dropped him to 1-3 in title fights, with the other two losses coming against former champion Alex Pereira. Ulberg and Pereira are the only two fighters to defeat Prochazka in the UFC.

Ulberg suggested that Prochazka went along with Rogan's theory as a way of angling for a rematch.

"When that word 'merciful' was fed into his mouth on that night ... he went with it and played with it, and that was his excuse so that he could hopefully get a rematch," Ulberg said. "There is no way he gets that rematch. I don't see him getting past (top-ranked contender Magomed) Ankalaev - he gets his ass beat by Ankalaev. I don't see him in that top picture anymore."

Ulberg also disclosed that he'll undergo scans in Las Vegas later this week to determine whether he tore his ACL in the fight. The New Zealander owns a 14-1 career record.