Breaking: UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka pulls out of UFC 282 and vacates his title due to serious injury

UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka has pulled out of UFC 282, according to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports. Prochazka was set to defend his light heavyweight title for the first time at UFC 282. However, an injury has forced him out of the main event.

Furthermore, Prochazka has chosen to vacate the title rather than hold the division up as he recovers from his injury. While his opponent, No.1-ranked light heavyweight Glover Teixeira, was offered a title fight against No.3-ranked light heavyweight Magomed Ankalaev, he chose to turn it down.

The scheduled co-main fight between Ankalaev and No.2-ranked Jan Blachowicz will now be the main event of UFC 282. According to Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour, the two will fight for the vacant light heavyweight belt.

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Jiri Prochazka had an orthopedic shoulder injury

According to Brett Okamoto of ESPN, Jiri Prochazka was forced out of UFC 282 with an orthopedic shoulder injury. His recovery from surgery will take over a year, and the former light heavyweight champion made the decision to vacate the title out of respect for the rest of the division.

UFC President Dana White told Yahoo Sports that Prochazka's shoulder injury is the worst that UFC doctors have ever seen, stating:

"This is the worst shoulder injury the doctors have seen in UFC history. It's really f**king bad. His shoulder is very, very bad. He's going to have serious surgery that will require extensive rehab."

It remains unclear why Glover Teixeira has pulled out of the title fight. While the light heavyweight bout between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev has been moved to the main event, the lightweight bout between Paddy Pimblett and Jared Gordon will be the co-main event.