UFC 327: Jiri Prochazka vs. Carlos Ulberg picks and predictions
See who we think will win in the Kaseya Center this weekend.
The UFC is back with a PLE this week. And this might be the most stacked card of the Paramount+ era. I don’t have much to complain about when it comes to this one.
Jiri Prochazka vs. Carlos Ulberg serves as the main event. That’s a fascinating match-up for the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight title. Anything involving Prochazka is fascinating, though.
The co-main should have been Joshua Van vs. Tatsuro Taira for the UFC Flyweight title. However, an injury to Taira has pushed that one back a few weeks. Even so, the main card on Saturday is still very very good.
We’ve got Azamat Murzakanov vs. Paulo Costa, Dominick Reyes vs. Johnny Walker, Curtis Blaydes vs. Josh Hokit and Cub Swanson’s retirement fight against Nate Landwehr.
Man, we would have had a field day with Hokit if Bloody Elbow were still a thing (it’s not, don’t bother checking). Honestly, though, I can’t say that I miss writing about all the asshats in this sport.
Back to this event, though. The prelims are pretty good, too. Kelvin Gastelum vs. Vicente Luque is sitting in the early prelims. And we’ve also got Tatiana Suarez vs. Loopy Godinez, Mateusz Gamrot vs. Esteban Ribovics and Kevin Holland vs. Randy Brown.
We did pretty good last week with our picks. Blaine Henry did the best, going 14-5. Blaine also hit on his lock pick (Jose Delano). He and Kristen were the only ones to hit on their locks last week, and thus earn 10 bonus points. The rest of us were suckered by Azamat Bekoev!
I’m still in the lead, despite getting my first lock pick of the year wrong. Things have really tightened up, though.
Scroll down to see our standings and who we are picking this week.
Leader board
Jiri Prochazka (-112) vs. Carlos Ulberg (-108)
Miguel Class: Jiri’s perfect mix of guaranteed violence and unparalleled silliness is the only reason light heavyweight should be allowed to continue to exist. Ulberg fits into the category of 205ers that actually tries to be good, which paradoxically has almost always led to worse results in this division. Part of that is because despite a nine fight win streak stretching over four years, it feels like Ulberg has still been allowed to mostly coast his way through one of the shallowest divisions in the UFC. That’s ultimately why I can’t pick him here. While his ability to low kick, jab, and outpoint opponents could theoretically allow him to frustrate Jiri at range, I haven’t seen Ulberg’s outfighting skills tested against an opponent who will at some point just become a wild marauder.