#ufc327

[theanticool]

Carlos Ulberg knocks out Jiri Prochazka in the 1st round!

The goofiest way that Jiri could have lost. Absolutely amazing.

Ulberg hurt his right leg while trying to pivot out of the pocket. So much so that he was hobbling around and falling over when he'd try to kick or throw. Jiri noticed this and kept trying to bait Ulberg into a Max Holloway style point to the ground and bang but would step back when Ulberg threw or stepped forward and would kick the lead leg. Jiri finally tries to close distance and eats one of Ulberg's many many check hooks and goes down. He spins around on the mat as Ulberg lays into him with GnP and the fight is over.

Ulberg is the UFC Light Heavyweight champion and City Kickboxing has another belt for the collection. Props to Ulberg. I said his fights haven't been memorable but this one I don't think I'll ever forget cause it's so freaking funny.

[theanticool]

Josh Hokit and Curtis Blaydes throw down in sloppy brawl that ends with Hokit winning.

Heavyweight is an ass division lol crazy fight tho

[theanticool]

Aaron Pico dominates Patricio Pitbull, takes UD.

The absolute best version of Aaron Pico that we've ever seen. Struggled a bit early. Pitbull visibly rocked him with two punches early in the 1st and was damaging Pico's lead leg with kicks. But Pico did not try to just blitz through Pitbull. Used his jab, changing levels with his boxing. Was using his speed advantage to get in and out of range. Was using his beautiful left hook to the body to set up his takedowns. And he just kept building and building a lead until Pitbull was basically shut down and out of the fight.

A shame that this fight only happens now that Pitbull is 39 years old but happy Pico seems to have figured some stuff out. Now if that translates to wins over top 10-ish featherweights remains to be seen.

[theanticool]

Vicente Luque submits Kelvin Gastelum in the 1st round!

Drops Gastelum with a left hand behind the ear and a lead uppercut. Gastelum recovers guard and tries to build up but Luque gets head control and locks up the D’Arce. Gastelum taps!

Yay! A good win for Luque. Club and Sub! If Gastelum can’t take those punches anymore, it’s basically over. His chin is 50% of how he’s been surviving this late into his career.

[theanticool]

All Walker is doing is kicking Reyes' lead leg and circling to his left. And he's done it for 10 minutes with 0 consequence.

[theanticool]

Cub Swanson KOs Nate Landwehr in the 1st round!

Get that orange fuck off the screen, god.

Cub Swanson completely wrecks Landwehr. Did not realize how shot Nate would look. He's been in there with some killers and been pretty competitive as of late and while Cub had that win over Billy Q was impressive it was over a year ago and he had looked to be slowing down then too.

Just extremely happy to see Cub go off on a win with 0 damage. One of my permanent favs from the last 15 years. Just a wonderfully creative and destructive fighter. Completely unique.

[theanticool]

UFC has announced the totality of UFC 327. We have another vacated title being fought over as it seems Alex Pereira has vacated the title and will likely be moving to heavyweight.

Jiri Prochazka vs Carlos Uhlberg - Any Jiri fight is always welcome. One of the most exciting and interesting fighters in the sport, despite his technical deficiencies. Happy he's getting another crack at the title. And while I don't find Uhlberg all that interesting of a fighter, he's the deserving #1 contender. So fine enough main event.

Joshua Van (C) vs Tatsuro Taira - Sucks that this is a tale of two guys who have two big question marks above their heads. Van went life or death with a Brandon Royval that just got smoked inside of a round while Taira got absolutely bullied on the feet by Royval. And while Van managed to win the title, I don't think most people are satisfied with how the fight with Pantoja played out. But this is the youngest title fight the UFC has had in years and it's two of the best young fighters at flyweight with two completely different approaches. Best fight on the card.

Curtis Blaydes vs Joshua Hokit - The UFC seems to understand that the division sucks ass and is repeatedly trying to hotshot new contenders. I don't think Hokit is 'hot shit' and find his entire right wing edgelord gimmick incredibly half-assed and cringe but he seems to be an in shape HW with some wrestling experience and a decent gas tank. Is that enough to overcome the experience gap and get Blaydes out of there? hope not!

Beniel Dariush vs Manuel Torres - the UFC seems desperate to clear out the old heads taking up space in the LW rankings. For Dariush, that means he keeps getting matched up with guys who are quick finishers (a thing Dariush has always been susceptible to). I don't think Torres is a rising contender, but he's long, dangerous, and much younger than Dariush.

Dominick Reyes vs Johnny Walker - Welcome to the glass canon factory, baby! Two guys with big power, 0 chin, and waning confidence. Expecting the goofiest 3 minutes of MMA ever in this one.

I like the prelims: Cub Swanson vs Nate Landwehr is good old man action. Mateusz Gamrot vs. Esteban Ribovics - see what I said about Dariush-Torres. Holland-Brown is some fun long boys with pop action. Patrício Pitbull vs. Aaron Pico is the fight Bjorn Rebney dreamed of for years. Hopefully, Loopy Godinez vs Tatiana Suarez put on a wrestling clinic as opposed to some mediocre range kickboxing. Azamat Murzakanov vs. Paulo Costa is two big punchers. It's an OK main card (charitable) but I really like the prelims.

[sumghai]

@borrachinhamma