Wild finishes on UFC 327 card
The rest of UFC 327 delivered high drama: Josh Hokit beat Curtis Blaydes in what MMA Junkie called a shocking heavyweight thriller, and Dominick Reyes edged Johnny Walker by split decision to boos from the crowd. ( )
Josh Hokit left UFC 327 with the biggest win of his career, beating Curtis Blaydes by unanimous decision in a three-round heavyweight fight in Miami. (mmajunkie.usatoday.com) All three judges scored it 29-28 for Hokit on Saturday, April 11, at Kaseya Center, where the former interim title challenger Blaydes entered as the more established name at heavyweight. (mmajunkie.usatoday.com) The same main card also produced a divided reaction in the light heavyweight bout between Dominick Reyes and Johnny Walker. Reyes won a split decision, 29-28, 28-29, 29-28, and the crowd booed the result after a cautious 15-minute fight. (mmajunkie.usatoday.com) UFC 327 was headlined by a vacant light heavyweight title fight, but these two undercard results did most of the work in shaping how the event felt in the arena. Hokit’s bout became the action fight people talked about, while Reyes-Walker drew the opposite response. (ufc.com, mmajunkie.usatoday.com) The promotion underlined that split in reaction after the show. UFC awarded Hokit a Performance of the Night bonus, and official event listings show his win over Blaydes as one of the night’s central results on a 12-fight card in front of 17,741 fans. (ufc.com, tapology.com) For Hokit, the result pushed his professional record to 9-0 and gave him a win over the No. 5-ranked heavyweight, according to pre-fight listings tied to the matchup. Blaydes fell to 19-6. (tapology.com, sports.yahoo.com) For Reyes, the win moved him to 16-5 and stopped Walker, who entered the bout at 22-9, from building momentum in the light heavyweight division. Walker had said before the event that a win could move him back toward the title picture. (tapology.com, mmajunkie.usatoday.com) The rest of the card filled in around those swings in tone. Official results also included Cub Swanson stopping Nate Landwehr in the first round, Aaron Pico beating Patricio Freire by unanimous decision, and Kevin Holland beating Randy Brown by unanimous decision. (mmajunkie.usatoday.com) By the end of the night, UFC 327 had one fight that lifted a new heavyweight name and another that sent fans out grumbling. The scorecards were final in both, but the crowd in Miami made clear which one it came to remember. (mmajunkie.usatoday.com, mmajunkie.usatoday.com)
