‘I needed to end one chapter of my life’ – Jiri Prochazka cuts off his ‘war hair’ after beating Glover Teixeira to become UFC light-heavyweight champion

UFC light-heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka has shaved off his legendary hair after making history with his win over Glover Teixeira last weekend.

‘The Czech Samurai’ was down on the scorecards heading into the final round of his title fight against Glover Teixeira, before taking matters into his own hands at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

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Prochazka found himself on his back with less than a minute to go before he somehow summoned the energy to reverse the position and quickly lock up a rear-naked choke submission with just 30 seconds left on the clock.

With this win, Prochazka becomes the first Czech fighter to have the UFC belt wrapped around his waist and he also puts himself alongside the likes of Anderson Silva and Brock Lesnar after becoming a champion in just his third fight with the promotion.

On Monday, the 29-year-old returned to his hometown of Brno where a stage was erected and thousands came out to celebrate his huge achievement, leaving UFC superstar Conor McGregor green with envy.

Now that the post-fight celebrations have started to calm down, Prochazka decided to change his signature hairstyle which made him one of the most recognisable fighters in MMA.

‘Denisa’, who is now sporting skinhead, explained that he decided to cut off his hair because he believed a new part of his life was about to begin after becoming UFC champion.

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“I cut my hair because I needed to end one chapter of my life. So now I can start with new energy, new wave. Honestly,” Prochazka told Ariel Helwani.

The 205lb knockout artist previously describe his hairstyle as ‘war hair’ and explained that it was inspired by the headgear worn by Muay Thai fighters called Mongkhon.

“That’s my war hair,” Prochazka said in an interview with BT Sport.

“I was inspired by the Mongkhon which is from Muay Thai fighting and Muay Thai is my background and that was the inspiration.

“When you are ready to fight you need to look like a fighter, a warrior. Let’s keep my spirit in that war mode.”

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