Carlos Ulberg captured the vacant UFC light heavyweight title Saturday night, knocking out Jiri Prochazka in the first round of the UFC 327 main event in Miami.
In the co-headliner, Paulo Costa pulled off an upset against Azamat Murzakanov, earning a third-round TKO victory in his return to the 205-pound division.
Here are four takeaways from the event.
Ulberg winning title on 1 leg was absurdly impressive
It's impossible to overstate just how improbable Ulberg's win over Prochazka was, given that he blew out his knee just a few minutes before the knockout.
The UFC commentary team noticed immediately that Ulberg was compromised - and so did Prochazka. Ulberg tried to hide the injury, but at that point, it felt like a matter of time before Prochazka chopped down Ulberg's leg or knocked him out. The fight was in the palm of his hand. All he had to do was not get caught.
And then Prochazka got caught.
Ulberg floored him with a picture-perfect check left hook and then finished the job with devastating shots on the ground.
Considering the circumstances, this was one of the most incredible wins we've seen in the UFC in a long time.
No room for mercy in MMA
Prochazka took his foot off the gas instead of going for the kill when he noticed that Ulberg had hurt his knee. That decision cost him the UFC light heavyweight title and his consciousness. Prochazka said afterward he felt mercy for his injured opponent, but in a sick twist, he was the one who ended up on his back, staring up at the lights.
It was hard not to feel bad for Prochazka as he stood in the Octagon, speaking to Joe Rogan and trying to process what had just happened. He realized the fight was his to lose, yet he let it slip away. All Prochazka needed to do was attack Ulberg's leg, with one or two more heavy kicks likely enough to do the job.
The outcome is another harsh reminder that there's no room for mercy in MMA. While there's no need to rain down ground-and-pound on a clearly unconscious fighter, generally speaking, you ought to do what it takes to win. If that means capitalizing on an injury like Ulberg's blown-out knee, then so be it. Even Ulberg said as such.
"If you're in there to get that title, you do whatever it takes to get that win," Ulberg said at the postfight press conference.
Prochazka will be thinking about this one for a while. And you can bet he won't let anyone off the hook from here on out.
Costa immediately in the mix at 205 pounds
Just when it felt like Costa was being thrown to the wolves against Murzakanov, he delivered one of the best performances of his career.
Although Costa entered the co-headliner as a significant underdog, he battered Murzakanov and eventually put away the previously undefeated Russian with a head kick in the third round.
Costa is a .500 fighter since losing to Israel Adesanya in 2020, but perhaps this move to light heavyweight is exactly what he needed to revitalize his career. Whether the Brazilian can put some consistency together remains to be seen, but he'll be fighting for the title in no time in a shallow light heavyweight division if he keeps performing the way he did Saturday.
Hokit gives the heavyweight division life
The heavyweight division has been on life support for a while, but Josh Hokit might've just saved it.
Hokit, whose WWE-style persona has made him one of the most captivating fighters in the UFC since his debut last November, talked the talk throughout UFC 327 fight week, but he also walked the walk at Kaseya Center in Miami. Hokit bit down on his mouthguard and delivered a Fight of the Year candidate against No. 5-ranked contender Curtis Blaydes. The two traded heavy blows for 15 minutes, smashing the record for most significant strikes landed in a UFC heavyweight bout. At the end of it, Hokit got his hand raised via unanimous decision to catapult into the upper echelon of the division.
Heavyweight badly needed fresh blood, and Hokit delivered. Oh yeah, and Gable Steveson signed with the UFC on Saturday night, too. Suddenly, things are looking up for the division.
