Jiri Prochazka has signed with the UFC. The news was confirmed by Nobuyuki Sakakibara on Twitter this morning:

現RIZINライトヘビー級王者のイリー・プロハースカ選手がベルトを返上し、UFCと契約する事となりました。我々は彼の意思を尊重し、快く送り出します。RIZINのリングで凌ぎを削った経験を存分に活かし、是非UFCでもベルトを掴んで欲しいです。今後も変わらずイリー選手への応援を宜しくお願いします。 pic.twitter.com/3g4yIiGzeO

— NOBUYUKI SAKAKIBARA (@nobu_sakakibara) January 16, 2020

The Rizin CEO said Prochazka had vacated the belt in order to sign with the UFC. That leaves atomweight title holder Seo Hee Ham as the promotion’s only current champion.

The Czech fighter holds a record of 26-3-1 and has been on the Rizin roster since 2015. Prochazka has fought 12 times for the Japanese promotion, winning 11 of those fights.

In 2015 Prochazka avenged his only recent loss by beating Muhammed Lawal to become the light heavyweight champion. He defended the belt for the first time at Rizin 20, stopping UFC veteran C.B. Dollaway early in the opening round.

The future of Tofiq Musayev who won the Rizin lightweight tournament a couple of weeks ago is also up in the air. He confirmed that talks with the UFC were ongoing.

Rizin 21 is set for Shizuoka on February 22nd. At present there are no fights confirmed for this card.