UFC 327 fight card predictions: Expert picks for Jiri Prochazka vs. Carlos Ulberg

The vacant mild heavyweight championship is on the road in Saturday’s foremost occasion 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 didn’t 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 getting 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 shifting 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 file and 5 stoppage wins.

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 employees predictions and picks for the PPV portion of the festivities which you could take into account earlier than hitting the sportsbooks.

UFC 327 fight card, odds

Odds by way of 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, girls’s strawweights
• Chris Padilla -162 vs. Marquel Mederos +136, lightweights
• Kelvin Gastelum -278 vs. Vicente Luque +225, middleweights
• Charles Radtke -180 vs. Francisco Prado +150, welterweights

UFC 327 predictions, picks

With such a large foremost 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.

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 could be, the awkwardness of Prochazka must be sufficient to present him pause and freeze him. That’s the one opening Prochazka must land the large one and end him off. As evidenced by his rally to complete (*327*) Rountree Jr. within the last spherical final October after being picked aside for many of the fight, Prochazka’s skill to hold his cardio via chaos whereas dragging foes into the deep finish of the pool is exclusive to himself and the one man to beat him within the Octagon is not on this division.

Brookhouse: Prochazka is a throwback fighter within the sense that his type is unrefined and almost as unusual as his character. He’s the form of man who used to litter MMA playing cards earlier than everybody skilled and refined their recreation to the place a typically homogeneous approach of preventing dominates fight playing cards, with small edges in methods deciding most fights. For that motive, and the joy his fights produce consequently, I by no means need to choose towards Prochazka except it is towards one other throwback kind of fighter — like Alex Pereira.

Mahjouri: Prochazka is rarely a protected guess, 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 apart from Pereira crushes my desires, I’ll experience 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 right foil. Costa will probably be harmful at occasions and his repute for a sturdy chin must be sufficient to assist him go the gap. But he is merely outgunned on this matchup ought to he determine to go blow for blow with the highly effective Murzakanov. Costa has traditionally solely misplaced to the very best of his division and Murzakanov is beginning to look as if he matches that mildew.

Brookhouse: One of Costa’s greatest qualities is its toughness. I do not know if that toughness will maintain up in shifting to mild heavyweight towards a man who has been ripping via established mild heavyweights the way in which Murzakanov has. While Costa is sweet at making a fight ugly and keen to make his opponent wallow within the muck with him, he is not the man used to preventing at mild heavyweight or the one who has present profession momentum, having gone 2-4 since 2020.

Mahjouri: Costa is almost inconceivable to complete. That’s a priceless asset towards a identified 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 data to help Costa as a light-weight heavyweight. Murzakanov’s choice 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 properly 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 indisputable 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 type and confidence in his approach. But those self same heavyweights had been named Francis Ngannou (twice), Derrick Lewis, Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall. Hokit has but to go the gap 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 came upon.