Jiří Procházka (; ; born October 14, 1992) is a Czech mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He was the inaugural Rizin Fighting Federation Light Heavyweight Champion and the inaugural Gladiator Fighting Championship Light Heavyweight Champion. As of February 14, 2023, he is #11 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings, and as of December 6, 2022, he is #1 in the UFC light heavyweight rankings. Early life Procházka was born on October 14, 1992 in the south Moravian part of Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). Procházka's father died when he was 6 years old. In his youth, Procházka played amateur football for TJ Družstevník Hostěradice. He was also an active freestyle BMX rider and a floorball player. As a teen, Procházka partook in street fights almost weekly, getting into more than 100 of them. This eventually led him to join the hooligan club tied to Prochazka's local soccer team, FC Zbrojovka Brno, where he would take part in organized group street fights with clubs of other teams, even participating in 30-on-30 brawls. Procházka first encountered mixed martial arts before beginning high school, after a friend showed him videos of kickboxer Ramon Dekkers and mixed martial artists Mirko Filipovic and Fedor Emelianenko. After watching the film Never Back Down, he began to train in martial arts, in particular Thai boxing. Mixed martial arts career Gladiator Fighting Championship Debut and initial fights Procházka made his professional MMA debut in April 2012 for the Gladiator Fighting Championship, the biggest promotion in his native Czech Republic at the time. He amassed a 7–2 record within his first two years of fighting professionally. Inaugural Light Heavyweight Champion In his tenth professional bout, he won the inaugural GCF Light Heavyweight Championship in the back-and-forth fight against Czech MMA pioneer Martin Šolc via flying knee knockout on December 7, 2013 at GCF 26 FN. Video of the bout went viral in the Czech Republic and Procházka was also awarded a post-fight bonus. The fight was later awarded 'Czech Fight of the Year' by major media outlets. Procházka defended his title against Tomáš Penz on June 6, 2014 at GCF 28: Cage Fight 4. He won the fight via technical knockout due to a flying knee in 41 seconds. Procházka signed a deal with the Rizin Fighting Federation shortly