UFC contender Jiri Prochazka says champion Alex Pereira is using shamans, spiritual forces, and rituals to win fights



UFC No. 1 contender Jiri Prochazka accused light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira of using dark forces to harness energy in his fights.

Prochazka and Pereira are facing off for the second time at UFC 303 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the often spiritual Prochazka recently noted that his opponent has been utilizing "shamans" ahead of fights.

"He believes in the help of of spiritual things," the former champion said. "That's something I think he can't fight without. I want to keep [the fight] in a clear line, just the sport, pure performance, men versus men. I think he doesn't know how to fight without because he used these things every time."

'Everyone knows that he's doing these rituals.'

Host Ariel Helwani asked for clarification on what he meant by "spiritual things."

"He is working with some shamans from his hometown and he believes in some spiritual help from them," the Czech Republic native replied on "The MMA Hour."

"I believe too, but I believe in the best performance, in the human performance right here, right now, without magic."

During a press conference for UFC 303 two days later, Prochazka was asked again about spiritual forces by a reporter.

"Everyone knows that he's doing these rituals," he stated. "Before the fight, everyone can feel that. What's around him and what's going on. So I think Alex can't fight without that. That's something that he's using normally in fighting. Let's see, this is my challenge to him."

"Let's fight in a clear way, to not have other things, some whatever [in the cage]. Let the higher power be in the cage to see which is the best, in the pure performance. That's all," the 205-pound fighter added.

Pereira responded during his own segment of the press conference and did not take the chance to downplay the accusations, instead opting to question Prochazka's own spirituality.

"Well, everybody has their own spirits; we're not just made of flesh and bone," Pereira said. "If he did not find his or he doesn't believe, that's not my fault."

The reigning champion was also asked if he thought Prochazka was an "unusual" man.

"For me, he is a normal guy. Everybody has their own ways and their own expressions, but for me it's just a normal guy," Pereira added.

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Knife-wielding nut picks wrong victim to attack — a former MMA fighter who introduces new opponent to surface of parking lot



Instincts and training kicked in at just the right moment for a former mixed martial artist who was out late after Halloween officially ended — and then found himself face to face with the wrong end of a knife in a Cutler Bay, Florida, parking lot.

What happened?

Javier Baez told WPLG-TV that he was headed home around 4 a.m. Nov. 1 when he encountered 50-year-old Omar Marrero holding the knife and yelling in the parking lot.

The station, citing an arrest report, said Marrero began hitting Baez's car window with the knife and then opened the driver-side door and tried to cut Baez.

Baez exited his vehicle and tried to de-escalate things, but WPLG, citing the report, said Marrero kept swinging the knife.

Marrero soon went back to his vehicle, placed the knife on his front passenger side floor, and then began fighting Baez, the station said.

Moments later, Marrero returned to his car, grabbed a second large knife, and tried to cut Baez several times, WPLG reported.

But when Marrero tried rushing up to Baez, video shows the former MMA fighter overpowering his new opponent with great ease and speed, lifting Marrero up, slamming him to the ground, and disarming him.

“You train so many times that it becomes just a reflex,” Baez noted to the station.

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Baez detained Marrero until police arrived, WPLG said.

'Easy peasy'

“Once I started putting the choke in, he kind of just let it go because no one is worried about anything else but breathing when you’re losing air,” Baez added to the station. “I was able to hold him down with my knee and call the cops, and he woke up, cops came, and it was good, easy peasy!”

Baez noted to WPLG that he endured only minor scratches to his hands after the outside-the-ring dust-up.

“Once it came to that, it’s all instincts. I couldn’t do much but just react,” Baez added to the station. “I’ve been training my whole life — black belt jiu-jitsu, wrestled in college, I’ve got eight pro fights, MMA masters. I’ve got great training partners.”

Baez noted to WPLG that he doesn't know Marrero personally but that he's seen him walking around the neighborhood.

What happened to the suspect?

Marrero was facing one count each of burglary with assault or battery and aggravated battery, the station said, citing jail records.

Last Friday, he was being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, WPLG reported.

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FACT CHECK: Did A Transgender MMA Fighter Fracture Her Opponent’s Skull?

The video is miscaptioned

Fangirl gets LEVELED by a healthy dose of equality at UFC event



In case you chose to skip today's episode of "Louder with Crowder," here's what you missed:

A female fan rushed the cage at a UFC event and was leveled with a healthy dose of equal rights.

"Welcome to the Thunderdome ... I'm just glad to see equality working," Crowder joked, adding, "I would have been upset seeing that a few years ago, but I don't care now. I did care but you shouldn't run at the cage. I wish I cared."

Donald Trump Jr. joined the show as well, but first, Crowder gave us a quick lesson about how "Karl Marx was a big fat racist loser."



Watch the clips for more on these stories and be sure to subscribe for access to Crowder's unfiltered interview with Trump Jr.

Can't watch? Download the podcast here.

Want more from Steven Crowder?

To enjoy more of Steven’s uncensored late-night comedy that’s actually funny, join the Mug Club — the only place for all of Crowder uncensored and on demand.

MMA-trained man fights back against hapless carjackers who still manage to get in car but can't steal it — because crook behind wheel doesn't drive stick



Who doesn't love an old-fashioned, feel-good carjacking story every once in a while?

More than likely everybody — save for three men who probably should've stayed home Tuesday instead of venturing to the Anytime Fitness in Stafford, Virginia, allegedly in search of a free ride.

What happened?

Stafford County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to the gym for a disturbance just before 5 p.m., WUSA-TV reported, adding that multiple callers reported that three men had attacked another man and tried to steal his car.

The three men hit their victim several times with a wooden stick, the station reported, but the victim — trained in mixed martial arts — fought back.

Amid the three-against-one fight, an attacker still managed to get hold of the victim's car keys, and he jumped in the vehicle, WUSA said.

Oops

But it turns out the attacker behind the wheel wasn't going anywhere. The station, citing deputies, said he had no idea how to operate a manual transmission.

What's more, a number of gym members saw what was happening and rushed outside to help, WUSA said, and so the trio got back into the vehicle they used to drive there and took off.

They didn't get too far, though, as deputies learned the suspects were driving a white Acura sedan with Mississippi plates, the station said — and soon a deputy spotted them and tried to pull them over on Garrisonville Road near Interstate 95.

But rather than cutting their already embarrassing losses, the trio opted to hightail it north on I-95, according to WUSA.

From bad to worse

Deputies told the station the chase reached speeds of nearly 100 mph — and then near mile marker 145, the suspects crashed through the barrier arm and veered into the high-occupancy vehicle lanes. What's more they continued north for about two miles in wrong direction, the Free Lance-Star reported.

Stafford Sheriff's Maj. Shawn Kimmitz on Wednesday clarified to TheBlaze that the HOV lanes in the area are in the middle of the freeway — and switch one-way directions in the morning and evening rushes. So the suspects were driving north into southbound traffic at the time.

He told the paper it was "miraculous" they didn't cause an accident

While the suspects finally stopped on their own, they all took off on foot into a wooded median between the HOV lanes and the southbound lanes, WUSA said.

Authorities set a perimeter, and a K-9 and his handler tracked down the suspects through the heavy brush and found the three suspects, the station said.

They were ordered to give up, or the K-9 would be deployed, WUSA said, adding that only two of the suspects complied.

The unkindest bite of all

"The third suspect incorrectly judged his own speed or K-9 Titan's speed and attempted to run away," Stafford County deputies said, according to the station. "This attempt was futile as K-9 Titan was released and apprehended the suspect within 50 yards."

WUSA said the suspects were identified as 19-year-old Jabez Clark, 18-year-old Korey Richardson, and 20-year-old Jacob Land. The station added that Clark is charged with carjacking, robbery, conspiracy, malicious wounding, assault, vandalism, and possession of burglary tools; Richardson is charged with carjacking, robbery, conspiracy, eluding, reckless driving, and hit and run; Land is charged with carjacking robbery, conspiracy, and vandalism.

All three still were being held Wednesday without bond at the Rappahannock Regional Jail in Stafford.

Land briefly was taken to a hospital for treatment of a dog bite, WUSA said.