Two absolute warriors squared off inside the Octagon at UFC 327 Saturday night for the vacant light heavyweight championship. And while a war was expected, the battle ended very early.
Carlos Ulberg caught Jiri Prochazka in the main event, finishing him off inside of four minutes of the scheduled five-round contest. The bout headlined the Paramount+ card from the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
After Alex Pereira vacated the belt to chase heavyweight gold, UFC officials paired up Ulberg and Prochazka to determine the new champion. With his victory, Ulberg became the first-ever UFC champion from New Zealand, improving to 15-1 with nine of those wins by knockout.
Prochazka was attempting to earn the belt for a second time. He previously held the title in 2022 after a submission win over Glover Teixeira. Twice before Prochazka competed for the belt, but was denied by Pereira each time.
Paulo Costa knocks out Azamat Murzakanov, Cub Swanson retires
Another 205-pound contender emerged out of the co-main event, as Paulo Costa scored a third-round head-kick knockout win over Azamat Muzakanov.
Costa, who has bounced around between middleweight and light heavyweight, challenged for UFC gold in 2020 at 185 pounds. But this performance showed that 205 is where he needs to remain.
The past week saw Josh Hokit make headlines outside the Octagon, and on Saturday, he followed those words up with a hard-fought decision over Curtis Blaydes. Dominick Reyes downed Johnny Walker and Cub Swanson earned a first-round TKO over Nate Landwehr.
Swanson announced his retirement following the win, as the 42-year-old ended his 22-year career with the WEC and UFC with 31 victories.
UFC 327 Results
- Carlos Ulberg def. Jiri Prochazka via KO (strike) at 3:45 of Round 1 to become the new UFC light heavyweight champion
- Paulo Costa def. Azamat Murzakanov via TKO (strikes) at 1:23 of Round 3
- Josh Hokit def. Curtis Blaydes via unanimous decision
- Dominick Reyes def. Johnny Walker via split decision
- Cub Swanson def. Nate Landwehr via TKO (strikes) at 4:06 of Round 1
- Aaron Pico def. Patricio Pitbull via unanimous decision
- Kevin Holland def. Randy Brown via unanimous decision
- Mateusz Gamrot def. Esteban Ribovics via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 4:19 of Round 2
- Tatiana Suarez def. Loopy Godinez via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:29 of Round 2
- Chris Padilla vs. MarQuel Mederos declared a majority draw
- Vicente Luque def. Kelvin Gastelum via submission (anaconda choke) at 4:08 of Round 1
- Charles Radtke def. Francisco Prado via unanimous decision
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