Alex Pereira clearly had Jiri Prochazka badly hurt.
The question is: did the referee stoppage come too early?
Pereira unleashed a vicious right hand-left hook counter to drop a pressuring Prochazka. AĀ series of subsequent hammerfists and elbows prompted the ref to step in and end the fight, rewarding Pereira with a second-round TKO that made him the new light heavyweight world champion in the UFC 295 headliner at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday night.
When asked by Joe Rogan if he was surprised about the timing of the stoppage, Pereira said he wasn't.
"No, I'm not surprised," Pereira said through an interpreter. "He fell to my legs ... I don't think it was a bad stop."
Pereira set the tone in the opening round of the championship bout by attacking Prochazka with leg kicks.Ā
During the second round, the Brazilian picked up where he left off by again targeting Prochazka's compromised legs. However, Prochazka battled back on his feet and found success by striking Pereira with pressure. But moments after landing a big right hand, Prochazka fell victim to the right-left counter combo, hammerfists and elbows that made the ref stop the fight.
Though Prochazka jumped right up onto his feet after the ref stopped the bout, he didn't argue the result.
"In the end, it was right," Prochazka told Rogan in the Octagon.Ā "I was out, but I will never stop."
Here's how the entire UFC 295: Prochazka vs. Pereira main card went.
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