UFC Light Heavyweight Jiri Prochazka Shaved His Head In Solidarity With A Fan Battling Cancer And Flew Her Out To The Fights This Weekend

If you're planning on watching UFC 311 tomorrow night, don't be surprised when you don't see Jiri Prochazka's signature samurai ponytail when he makes the walk to the octagon for his fight against Jamahal Hill. 

Jeff Bottari. Getty Images.

This week Prochazka debuted a new shaved-head look, and revealed that he cut his hair in solidarity with a fan of his named Ashly McGarity, who is currently battling cervical cancer. Last month, Ashly lost her hair to chemotherapy, but had a little fun before shaving it all off by styling it like Jiri for a post on the r/UFC subreddit….

It got the former champ's attention, and this week, Jiri not only shaved his own head as a show of support back to Ashly….

….he flew her out to California for the fights and promised to donate $1,000,000 Czech Koruna (or Crowns) - just over $40,000 USD to her cause. 

When Dana White heard that at the presser, he asked for a rough translation of the $1,000,000 Crowns, Jiri said around $50,000 (not sure if he was smartly rounding up a bit or truly didn't know) and the UFC President promised to match it on the spot. He also seemed to think this was a little girl Jiri was talking about, and Ashly joked today on Reddit about that calling herself a "37 year old little girl" - but she also said how honored she was by the gesture. I thought everything about this, from the initial shaving of Jiri's head to the huge donation, was a truly heartwarming/awesome way for Prochazka and the UFC to tell a fan: "We've got your back." 

Cancer sucks. Wishing nothing but the best for Ashly in her fight, and I hope she has a great time at the card tomorrow. Should be a banger.

UPDATE: Minutes after publishing this blog, Jiri took Ashly on stage with him at the ceremonial weigh-ins….

Even cooler. 

Here's the Spinnin Backfist MMA Show breaking down UFC 311 from a betting perspective - just disregard everything we said about Dariush/Moicano and Makhachev/Tsarukyan as it's now Moicano/Makhachev with Dariush/Tsarukyan off the card….