Ray Longo, coach of Merab Dvalishvili and Aljamain Sterling, criticized Jiri Prochazka's mental approach and post-fight explanation, calling his "mercy" claim absurd and stating Prochazka simply made a major mistake. Carlos Ulberg dismissed Prochazka's claim that he showed mercy, saying it was actually fear and hesitation that affected him. Ulberg accused Prochazka of playing to the audience and suggested the excuse was manufactured to justify getting a rematch, which Ulberg believes won't happen because Ankalaev will beat him. Additionally, there appears to be tension at City Kickboxing gym between Israel Adesanya and Ulberg, with the two not being seen together recently and ignoring each other's fight results. Ulberg's suspected injury is an ACL tear with an estimated recovery time of 9-12 months, though official diagnosis is pending this week.
