UFC 327: Injured Carlos Ulberg pulls off improbable title victory

The dawn of a new era at light heavyweight commenced Saturday night in Miami in the main event of UFC 327, which saw Carlos Ulberg win the UFC vacant light heavyweight title over former champion Jiri Prochazka.

Ulberg (14-1) finished Prochazka (32-6-1) after nearly losing the fight due to a knee injury, catching Prochazka coming in with a left hook, followed by strikes, to win the title.

Ulberg has won 10 in a row, whereas Prochazka fell to 1-3 in UFC title fights since June 2022. Two of those losses were to Alex Pereira (13-3).

In the co-headliner, Paulo Costa rallied in the third round to halt Azamat Murzakanov's undefeated record. Costa (16-4) has won his last two fights as he used to fight primarily at middleweight. Murzakanov (16-1) had won five of his first seven fights in the UFC by KO/TKO dating to 2022.

At heavyweight, Josh Hokit remained unbeaten with a unanimous decision win over Curtis Blaydes in a highly entertaining fight that was primarily a striking clinic. Hokit (9-0) took the cards 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 to run his record to 3-0 in the UFC. Blaydes (19-6) has dropped two of his last three.

Hokit will make a quick turnaround, competing on the UFC Freedom 250 card June 14 in Washington, D.C., vs. Derrick Lewis (29-13, 1 NC), a late addition to make the event a seven-fight card.

At light heavyweight, Dominick Reyes earned a split decision against Johnny Walker, taking two of the three judges' scorecards 29-28, while another scored the opposite for Walker. Reyes (16-5) has won four of his last five fights, whereas Walker (22-10) is the direct inverse.

Former WEC veteran Cub Swanson ended his UFC career on a high note, knocking out Nate Landwehr with a right hook at 4:06 into the opening round. Swanson (31-14) closed his MMA journey with three wins in his last four fights, while Landwehr (18-8) has lost three in a row.

--Field Level Media/Reuters