ESPN staffApr 9, 2026, 09:00 AM ET
The UFC light heavyweight championship will be up for grabs Saturday, when Jiří Procházka takes on Carlos Ulberg in the UFC 327 main event at Miami's Kaseya Center. The current light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira, is vacating the belt to move up and fight against Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight championship at the White House in June.
Procházka, who held the belt from June to November 2022, will make his fourth appearance in a UFC title fight. Procházka has beaten his past two opponents by third-round knockout. He is ranked No. 3 in ESPN's divisional rankings.
Ulberg, ESPN's No. 4-ranked light heavyweight, enters the fight riding a nine-fight winning streak. He is making his first UFC title fight appearance.
A panel of three former UFC fighters offer their picks and insight for the UFC 327 main event.
Light heavyweight title fight
Expert takes
The chaos and unpredictability of Jiří's fight style over five rounds will be too much for Ulberg. Jiří has experience in big spots, and I could see that getting to Carlos. The footwork and speed of Carlos make him dangerous, and he reads distances well. Even with that, he needs to catch Jiří with something to beat him, and Jiří's defense has gotten better. -- Dustin Poirier
The chaos and unpredictability of Jiří's fight style over five rounds will be too much for Ulberg. Jiří has experience in big spots, and I could see that getting to Carlos. The footwork and speed of Carlos make him dangerous, and he reads distances well. Even with that, he needs to catch Jiří with something to beat him, and Jiří's defense has gotten better. -- Din Thomas
Ulberg has momentum. But if it wasn't for Alex Pereira, Procházka might be the longtime, reigning light heavyweight champion right now. It's hard to pick against Procházka. He's been near-perfect, in devastating fashion, for a long time. He doesn't dominate every fight from start to finish, but he finds ways to win, and we've seen him overcome adversity. His experience will be the difference-maker. -- Michael Chiesa
