UFC 327 takes place tomorrow night in Miami, Florida and we’ve got our predictions for all the fights below.
Main Card
Jiri Prochazka vs. Carlos Ulberg
Jiri Prochazka won has last two fights via strikes and now the former champion looks to win the vacant 205lb title when he goes up against Carlos Ulberg, who has won nine fights in a row.
Prochazka is one of the sport’s most deadly finishers, with 31 of his 32 career wins having come before the final bell, including 28 via strikes. He seems to thrive in the chaos of a heated battle with his fearless approach, throwing everything but the kitchen sink at his opponent, while also having shown numerous times the ability to fight through serious adversity. It’s a very risky, unrefined approach that shouldn’t really work as well as it has, yet somehow the 33-year-old Prochazka has only been finished twice in the past 10 years, with both times being courtesy of the striking ace who just vacated the belt, Alex Pereira.
A former kickboxer who has transitioned smoothly to MMA, Ulberg has showcased a seasoned striking game that’s built on speed, accuracy, and good power, leading to five stoppage from his nine UFC wins so far. He also has sturdy takedown defense that helps make up for his ground game is still a work-in-progress. Up to this point Ulberg hasn’t really faced the toughest level of competition, with his biggest wins coming against an old Jan Blachowicz and chinny Dominick Reyes, and though he’s generally proven to be durable he did suffer a KO loss to Kennedy Nzechukwu in his UFC debut back in 2021.
Prochazka’s style and mentality ensures he’s never in a boring fight, and with Ulberg also having big firepower this should be an entertaining scrap. I feel Prochazka has already beaten fighters that are at least as good as Ulberg in the past, but his live-by-the-sword, die-by-the-sword approach is bound to catch up with him eventually, so I’m taking Ulberg to find a TKO finish in the 3rd round.
Pick: Carlos Ulberg to win by TKO In Rd2.
Azamat Murzakanov vs. Paulo Costa
Azamat Murzakanov’s six wins in the UFC so far have increased his unbeaten career record to 16‑0, while Paulo Costa is coming off just his second victory in the past five years as he steps up to light-heavyweight for this match-up.
The 36-year-old Murzakanov doesn’t look like a stand-out 205lb talent at just 5ft 10″ tall with an unassuming physique. However, that’s not proven to be a problem for him as he’s a composed and compact boxer with solid technique and real power. He does a good job of navigating into range against bigger opponents and has racked up 12 career finishes via strikes, including in five in his six UFC fights to date. He also has good takedown defense, but on the mat he’s only found one submission win.
Costa was a force of nature early on in his UFC career, demolishing four of his first five opponents in the Octagon via strikes to earn a title shot. However, Israel Adesanya schooled him in their title clash and after that Costa seemed to lose his way with a series of lackluster performances and lengthy layoffs. However, last time out against Roman Kopylov he vowed to return to his more aggressive style and did put in a more focused, committed performance that earned him a decision victory. It showed that it’s not too late for the 34-year-old to turn back the clock as he is still capable both technically and physically, but his mentality remains questionable and it remains to be seen whether moving up to 205lbs for this fight is a good idea.
Costa did well enough last time out that he becomes more a credible threat here, but even so, the body of evidence over the past five years means it’s hard to trusty him to maintain that form. By way of contrast, Murzakanov is always consistent and dialled-in with his performances, and so I’ll take him to win out here on the scorecards.
Pick: Azamat Murzakahnov wins by decision.
Curtis Blaydes vs. Josh Hokit
Curtis Blaydes picked up a split‑decision win last year and now faces Josh Hokit, who is now 8-0 in his career after picking up two wins since joining the UFC.
The 35-year-old Blaydes has long been in the mix at the top-end of the heavyweight division, but he’s repeatedly fallen short when he gets close to a title shot. And so it seems the UFC are now at the stage where they are pushing him less as his last fight and this one both see him going up against unranked opponents. Still, he remains one of the division’s best wrestlers with good takedowns and strong control on top, while he does have solid, if unspectacular, boxing ability on the feet and moves well. Blaydes lacks a finishing threat on the feet though, and more worryingly, his chin has often proven to be his downfall, with all five of his career losses coming via strikes.
The 28-year-old Hokit is a former American Football player who had stints with a couple of NFL practice teams and also had an All‑American wrestling background, before turning his attention to MMA in 2022. He has good athleticism to complement his wrestling, and has shown his power by finishing all his fights so far., However, despite having previously fought for Bellator and LFA he hasn’t really faced any notable competition yet and he’s a bit undersized for a heavyweight at 6ft 1″ and 235lbs with a 73″ reach.
Hokit’s wrestling likely won’t outmatch Blaydes, who should also be able to use his 3″ height and 7″ reach advantage to work his favored jab from range and stay out of harms way to emerge with a decision victory.
Pick: Curtis Blaydes wins by decision.
Dominick Reyes vs. Johnny Walker
Dominick Reyes was KO’d in the 1st round by this event’s headliner Carlos Ulberg last time out, bringing an end to three‑fight win streak. He now squares up to Johnny Walker, who rebounded from two losses via strikes last time out with a TKO finish over Zhang Mingyang.
Reyes is best known for his razor‑close 205lb title challenge against Jon Jones in 2020, but he unexpectedly went on to suffer a major dip in form afterwards, suffering three bad defeats by strikes. That was followed by a long lay-off, so hopes weren’t high when he made a comeback in 2024, but surprisingly he then seemed to get back on track, winning three fights by T(KO). However, that did come against other past-their-best fighters, so when Ulberg KO’d him last year the doubts about him quickly returned. At 36, he’s certainly past his prime and his chin can’t be trusted, but meanwhile he is still an offensive force thanks to his athleticism, explosive hand-speed and good kicking game, while he’s able to operate in the clinch and can mix in some wrestling too.
The 34-year-old Walker is big even for a 205lb’er at 6ft 5″ with an 82″ reach. His striking style is unorthodox, dynamic and dangerous, offering a finishing threat with all eight limbs, while he can also grapple too. He has a tendency to get wild in the heat of the moment though, and while that’s delivered some highlight-reel knockouts, it’s also left him open to getting finished too. As such, six of his nine career losses have been via strikes, including 3 clean KO defeats in the UFC. Attempts to get him to fight in a more careful, considered manner have never stuck, as if he sticks to rigidly to it then he loses his offensive spark, while he also has a tendency to just lose his discipline when the action heats up.
Two big hitters with highly questionable chins should result in a finish here, and it could go either way. It’s hard to put faith in either man here, but Reyes is more controlled in his approach and will likely be more mindful of his defense, which will enable him to pick his moments to punish Walker’s own defensive lapses and come away with a 1st round knockout win.
Pick: Dominick Reyes wins by KO in Rd1.
Cub Swanson vs. Nate Landwehr
Cub Swanson won his last fight back in December of 2024, and is now returning for a retirement fight against Nate Landwehr, who’s coming off two losses via strikes.
The 42-year-old Swanson is set to go down in the history books as the last active veteran in the UFC from the WEC era on Saturday night. We don’t know how his latest layoff will affect him, but the last time we saw him he showed that despite his age he still remains a sharp, varied striker with good speed and athleticism, which helped him to a knockout win. That being said, he’d naturally slowed down somewhat over time and wasn’t able to quite maintain the frenetic pace he once did in his prime. Meanwhile, his grappling defense has always been a vulnerability, and he’s not as durable as he once was.
The 37-year-old Landwehr is an all‑action brawler who is far from being a polished or calculated striker, but looks to make up for that with aggression, toughness, and constant offensive pressure. It’s a style that’s been fun to watch but has delivered very mixed results. He actually lost two of his first three UFC fights and only started to find some form when he tried to tighten up his striking and mixed in a capable submission game. However, his form has dipped again since and the durability he often relies on to outlast opponents appears to be declining.
Swanson’s age and long absence from competing make this a tricky fight to call, but he is still the better technical striker and the one less likely to make costly defensive mistakes. The pick is Swanson to outwork Landwehr and earn a decision in his final appearance.
Swanson’s age and inactivity means I’m not picking him with confidence here, but he does look after himself well physically, has always been the superior striker when compared with Landwehr, and is composed in a scrap, so I’ll take him to gradually pick apart his opponent here, hurt him along the way and emerge with one last decision victory.
Pick: Cub Swanson wins by decision.
Prelims (Predicted winners in bold)
Patricio Freire vs. Aaron Pico
Kevin Holland vs. Randy Brown
Mateusz Gamrot vs. Esteban Ribovics
Tatiana Suarez vs. Lupita Godinez
Chris Padilla vs. MarQuel Mederos
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Vicente Luque
Charles Radtke vs. Francisco Prado
