by UFC 327 Took place tonight in Miami Florida and brought on the following Hot Takes.
Kelvin Gastelum loses to Vicente Luque by first round anaconda choke in only 4:08.
Take – The once promising career of Gastelum is done and the UFC will be cutting ties soon. After starting his career 16-3, he is only 4-8 since 2018. Meanwhile Luque had lost 3 of his last 4 and 5 of his last 7 coming in. He needed this win badly and got it to hold onto a little more UFC life.
Aaron Pico wins by Decision over Patricio Pitbull by UD with scores of 30-27,30-27 and 29-28.
Take – Man oh man did Pico need this one badly. The once thought of phenom has a history of losing his first performance with a major company badly. It happened to him in Bellator in 2017 when he was submitted by Zach Freeman in 24 seconds and then again in his UFC debut when he lost to Lerone Murphy by a brutal first round knockout that put him to sleep.
It also proved he could go the distance and put together a nice three round performance. For Pico, that was only the 3rd time in his 14 career wins that came by decision and only the 3rd time in his 19-fight career it went the distance.
Pico showed he was well rounded and if he can keep it up he can be a champion and a household name in the UFC. Pico can do very well at Featherweight and give the UFC fans the American that need to root for.
Kevin Holland gets a much-needed win over Randy Brown
Take – Speaking of guys who need redemption, you might as well place Kevin Holland in that mix as well. The once promising star had lost 8 of his last 12 as well. Holland needed a bounce back win and got one by unanimous decision.
Like I said with Pico, this could be a turning point for Holland that he once again finds his true potential that he had when he debuted on Dana Whites contender series back in 2018. Holland has all the skills to be a champion, he simply needs to get on a roll. Maybe this will spark it?
Cub Swanson is still deadly with those hands
Take – Swanson was back on the main card last night and made it count! It was his second knockout win and reminded everyone again just how quick he is with those hands. At 31-14, his days contending for a title may be over for good, but with 15 KO’s and 21 finishes, he can still put on electric fights and move the needle. Swanson remains one of the more entertaining fighters.
Dominick Reyes and Johnny Walker go to a split decision
Take – The Reyes win won’t exactly have everyone clamoring for a rematch. Neither fighter did much and reminded everyone why neither ever reached their potential. Reyes will forever be the guy who almost beat Jon Jones when he was 12-0 and has since, lost 5 of 9 to go 16-5. Walker was once a knockout artist, knocking out everyone in sight, but those days appear to be over.
Curtis Blaydes cannot get over the hump
Take – With his decision loss to Josh Hokit last night, the Chicago resident showed again that he cannot win big matches on big cards. This one had a lot of eyes on it and Blaydes laid an egg. He has some big wins in his career over good names such as Tom Aspinall and Junior Dos Santos just to name a few, but the big wins wrap around bigger losses. Blaydes may simply never get there.
Jiri Prochazka loses another big title fight
Take – Simply put, Prochazka is not ready to be a Light Heavyweight Champion, perhaps, ever again. He is now 1-3 in Light Heavyweight Title fights and there is no reason for a guy that big and strong to lose. His one title win was against a washed up Glover Texeira at the time. Also, kind of a crazy stat, in his 39 career fights, only one has gone the distance. On that note, congrats to current champ Carlos Ulberg.
