The vacant mild heavyweight championship is on the road in the primary occasion of Saturday’s UFC 327 when former champion Jiri Prochazka battles Carlos Ulberg.
Prochazka received the title from Glover Teixeira in 2022 however was pressured to vacate the belt after struggling an harm. Prochazka twice did not regain the belt in losses to Alex Pereira, the one man to have defeated Prochazka within the UFC. Now that Pereira has vacated the belt to problem for the interim heavyweight championship at UFC Freedom 250 on the White House, Prochazka has a transparent path again to the title.
Saturday represents Ulberg’s first likelihood at UFC gold. After struggling a knockout loss to Kennedy Nzechukwu in his UFC debut, it appeared Ulberg could have a decrease ceiling than the hype that was behind him coming into that evening. Since that loss, Ulberg has rattled off 9 wins, six by stoppage, and now finds himself on the verge of being UFC champion.
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The co-main occasion options former middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa transferring as much as mild heavyweight the place he’ll face Azamat Murzakanov, who has been on a tear since becoming a member of the promotion with a 6-0 report and 5 stoppage wins.
Jiri Prochazka keeps focus on title fight as girlfriend prepares to give birth back home: ‘I believe in her’
Shakiel Mahjouri
With a lot taking place on Saturday evening, let’s look nearer on the full fight card with the newest odds earlier than we get to our workers predictions and picks for the PPV portion of the festivities that you may take into account earlier than hitting the sportsbooks.
UFC 327 fight card, odds
Odds through DraftKings Sportsbook (Odds as of April 10)
- Jiri Prochazka -118 vs. Carlos Ulberg -102, vacant mild heavyweight title
- Azamat Murzakanov -205 vs. Paulo Costa +170, mild heavyweights
- Curtis Blaydes -122 vs. Josh Hokit +102, heavyweights
- Dominick Reyes -148 vs. Johnny Walker +124, mild heavyweights
- Nate Landwehr -112 vs. Cub Swanson -108, featherweights
- Aaron Pico -285 vs. Patricio Pitbull +230, featherweights
- Kevin Holland -112 vs. Randy Brown -108, welterweights
- Mateusz Gamrot -205 vs. Esteban Ribovics +170, lightweights
- Tatiana Suarez -148 vs. Loopy Godinez +124, ladies’s strawweights
- Chris Padilla -162 vs. Marquel Mederos +136, lightweights
- (*327*) Gastelum -278 vs. Vicente Luque +225, middleweights
- Charles Radtke -180 vs. Francisco Prado +150, welterweights
UFC 327 predictions, picks
With such an enormous primary occasion on faucet, the crew at CBS Sports went forward with predictions and picks for the primary card from Brian Campbell, Brent Brookhouse, Shakiel Mahjouri, Michael Mormile and Brandon Wise.
| Prochazka vs. Ulberg | Prochazka TKO3 | Prochazka KO2 | Prochazka KO3 | Ulberg KO2 | Prochazka SUB4 |
| Murzakanov vs. Costa | Murzakanov UD | Murzakanov TKO3 | Murzakanov UD | Murzakanov KO3 | Murzakanov UD |
| Blaydes vs. Hokit | Blaydes UD | Blaydes TKO3 | Blaydes KO2 | Blaydes KO2 | Blaydes TKO3 |
| Reyes vs. Walker | Walker KO1 | Reyes KO1 | Reyes KO1 | Reyes KO2 | Reyes KO1 |
| Swanson vs. Landwehr | Swanson SUB3 | Swanson TKO2 | Swanson KO3 | Swanson UD | Landwehr UD |
| Records to this point | 9-6 | 11-4 | 10-5 | 9-6 | 9-6 |
Jiri Prochazka vs. Carlos Ulberg predictions
Campbell: Let’s face it, Prochazka was constructed for hazard. Words like persistence and gameplans solely water down what this thrilling slugger brings to the desk. And with nemesis Alex Pereira having moved as much as heavyweight, the time is now for Prochazka to regain his 205-pound title. For as fast and highly effective as Ulberg will be, the awkwardness of Prochazka needs to be sufficient to offer him pause and freeze him. That’s the one opening Prochazka must land the massive one and end him off. As evidenced by his rally to complete Khalil Rountree Jr. within the closing spherical final October after being picked aside for many of the fight, Prochazka’s means to hold his cardio by way of chaos whereas dragging foes into the deep finish of the pool is exclusive unto itself and the one man to beat him within the Octagon is now not on this division.
Brookhouse: Prochazka is a throwback fighter within the sense that his fashion is unrefined and almost as unusual as his character. He’s the type of man who used to litter MMA playing cards earlier than everybody educated and refined their sport to the place a typically homogeneous approach of combating dominates fight playing cards, with small edges in strategies deciding most fights. For that motive, and the joy his fights produce in consequence, I by no means wish to choose in opposition to Prochazka until it is in opposition to one other throwback kind of fighter — like Alex Pereira.
Mahjouri: Prochazka is rarely a secure wager, however that is why we love him. He will most likely get rocked, and we’ll watch with bated breath. But Prochazka has the sheer audacity to eat Ulberg’s punches, march ahead and drag the technical striker into an inescapable hellstorm. Prochazka has solely misplaced to Alex Pereira within the UFC — losses that age higher with each accolade “Poatan” achieves. Until somebody aside from Pereira crushes my desires, I’ll journey with Prochazka.
Azamat Murzakanov vs. Paulo Costa predictions
Campbell: This is the kind of big-name opponent the unbeaten Murzakanov wants to really crack the title image. Expect Costa, who has misplaced 4 of his final six bouts and is making his return to mild heavyweight, to play his half as the proper foil. Costa shall be harmful at occasions and his fame for a sturdy chin needs to be sufficient to assist him go the space. But he is merely outgunned on this matchup ought to he resolve to go blow for blow with the highly effective Murzakanov. Costa has traditionally solely misplaced to the perfect of his division and Murzakanov is beginning to look as if he suits that mildew.
Brookhouse: One of Costa’s greatest qualities is his toughness. I do not know if that toughness will maintain up in transferring to mild heavyweight in opposition to a man who has been ripping by way of established mild heavyweights the way in which Murzakanov has. While Costa is nice at making a fight ugly and keen to make his opponent wallow within the muck with him, he isn’t the man used to combating at mild heavyweight or the one who has precise profession momentum, having gone 2-4 since 2020.
Mahjouri: Costa is sort of unimaginable to complete. That’s a useful asset in opposition to a recognized knockout artist like Murzakanov. Costa is coming off a powerful win over Roman Kopylmov, the place he fought with veteran composure. I haven’t got sufficient info to assist Costa as a lightweight heavyweight. Murzakanov’s determination win over Dustin Jacoby wasn’t fairly, however no less than I do know he can win a 15-minute fight.
Curtis Blaydes vs. Josh Hokit predictions
Campbell: Is the colourful Hokit, an athletic heavyweight with energy and a stable wrestling background, the kind of newcomer that the division badly wants? Eventually, that might very nicely be true. But this seems like an excessive amount of, too quickly for the previous NFL participant in simply his seventh professional fight and third stroll to the Octagon since debuting within the UFC final November. The incontrovertible fact that the 35-year-old Blaydes has solely misplaced to sluggers with quick palms makes this an attention-grabbing matchup given Hokit’s aggressive fashion and confidence in his approach. But those self same heavyweights have been named Francis Ngannou (twice), Derrick Lewis, Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall. Hokit has but to go the space as a professional and has seen six of his eight fights finish within the first spherical. Expect Blaydes to check Hokit’s gasoline tank over the complete quarter-hour and depend on his wrestling and expertise to humble the brash upstart.
Who wins Prochazka vs. Ulberg, and the way precisely does the fight finish? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed picks and analysis from the incomparable expert who’s up over $21,000 on his UFC picks since May 19, 2018, and discover out.
