Jiri Prochazka says Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor and others inspired him

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4 years ago

Khabib Nurmagomedov is a legend of the sport. (imago Images)

Jiri Prochazka has cited Khabib Nurmagomedov as one of his inspirations

Prochazka is hogging the light-heavyweight spotlight right now. Having made his UFC debut only last year, at UFC 251, the Czech has quickly risen through the rungs of the LHW ladder.

He faced top-ranked Dominick Reyes in the main event of UFC Vegas 25, and caught the world by storm, with a mind-blowing spinning back elbow KO – his second straight win in the UFC.

He now sits at number 2 in the light-heavyweight rankings, probably just a step away from a title shot against the champ Jan Blachowicz.

Jiri Prochazka of the Czech Republic punches Volkan Oezdemir of Switzerland in their light heavyweight fight during the UFC 251 event at Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Much of his meteoric rise has been due to his unorthodox fighting style and old-school martial artist approach. Prochazka has even spoken about training in the forest to get into the traditional martial arts mentality.

In an interview with RT Sport, Prochazka spoke about the fighters he looked up to. Amongst the many names, he mentioned Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jon Jones were the notable ones.

“A lot of inspiration was from Conor McGregor. A lot from Jon Jones. Machida was a great fighter, I’m not just talking about the fighter as a whole, I’m talking about the moves they did, the techniques. Khabib Nurmagomedov has inspired me too. A lot of other fighters as well – Robert Whittaker and Dominick Reyes.”

Georges St-Pierre breaks down how a ‘fantasy’ fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov would go

Khabib’s retirement put to bed the possibilities of a super-bout between him and one of the greatest welterweights of all time, Georges St-Pierre.

But the imaginary-fight debate rages on and on. And recently, GSP himself broke down, how a fight between him and the Eagle would pan out.

Georges St-Pierre of Canada reacts following his victory over Michael Bisping (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Speaking to Lex Fridman in his podcast, GSP said that he would quite easily adapt to Khabib’s style of ‘chain wrestling’.

“Khabib has more a style of chain wrestling like Kamaru Usman. It’s a different style. You cannot compare both styles. And that’s the kind of takedown I’m good (at).” [via GiveMeSport]

With that said, GSP will be punching the air since a fight with the Eagle never came to fruition.