Hokit stuns Blaydes

Josh Hokit beat Curtis Blaydes by unanimous decision on April 11 at UFC 327 in Miami, handing the longtime heavyweight contender a loss in a three-round brawl. (mmajunkie.usatoday.com) All three judges scored it 29-28 for Hokit at Kaseya Center, where UFC 327 ran a 12-fight card topped by Carlos Ulberg’s first-round knockout of Jiri Prochazka for the vacant light heavyweight title. (mmajunkie.usatoday.com) (usatoday.com) MMA Fighting reported Hokit dropped Blaydes in the first round, survived Blaydes’s wrestling and top control in the second, and closed the fight with another heavy exchange in the third. (mmafighting.com) The result changed the picture for a division Blaydes had occupied near the top for years. Hokit had been in his UFC debut eight months earlier, then drew the No. 5-ranked Blaydes on the main card in Miami. (cbssports.com) (mmajunkie.usatoday.com) The fight also fit the rest of the night. MMA Junkie counted six stoppages across the UFC 327 card, including Ulberg’s title-fight knockout and Paulo Costa’s third-round finish of Roman Dolidze in the co-main event. (mmajunkie.usatoday.com) (tapology.com) By Sunday, the damage from the heavyweight fight was clearer. Blaydes suffered a fractured orbital bone and a broken nose, his management team told MMA Fighting, according to a Yahoo Sports report. (sports.yahoo.com) Hokit left Miami with the biggest win of his career, and Blaydes left with another setback in a division where one result can reorder the next title conversation. (mmajunkie.usatoday.com)