Recently-crowned UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Carlos Ulberg remains inactive following a torn ACL suffered in his vacant title win at UFC 327 in April opposite Jiří Procházka in Miami, FL.
That doesn’t mean, however, that Ulberg isn’t paying attention to what’s going on in his own division. Saturday afternoon proved that belief to be true, as Ulberg was in attendance at Etihad Arena and watched former champion Magomed Ankalaev earn a fifth-round TKO over Bogdan Guskov in the main event.
Ulberg was pulled aside by the UFC’s Paramount crew for an interview following the event, as he weighed in on Ankalaev’s bounce-back victory. Simply put, it appeared Ulberg was unimpressed, barely describing what he thought of the evidently slow-paced fight.
🚨 Carlos Ulberg reacted to Magomed Ankalaev’s win, and says he’s targeting a return in early 2027 👀
“Congrats to Ankalaev. I saw what I needed to see. I’ll leave it at that.” #UFCAbuDhabipic.twitter.com/fWtxNA1vfg https://t.co/8te0d1qnV0
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) July 25, 2026
“Congrats to Ankalaev,” Ulberg said. “I saw what I needed to see. I will do everything I need to do to make sure I get back in there. But, you know, [in] the division, there’s nothing that’s sort of dominant [competition] at the moment.”
Carlos Ulberg Provides Targeted UFC Return Timetable
Nov 12, 2022; New York, NY, USA; Carlos Ulberg before his match against Nicolae Negumereanu at UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jessica Alcheh-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports
Ulberg said he wants to fight Ankalaev eventually, especially given the history he has brought to the division and the fact that his win over former two-division champion Alex Pereira is something that Ulberg has always targeted.
“We’re looking at early 2027, I feel,” Ulberg said regarding when he may return to the UFC.
Could Carlos Ulberg’s UFC Light Heavyweight Title Become Vacant?
Apr 11, 2026; Miami, Florida, UNITED STATES; Carlos Ulberg (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Jiri Prochazka (red gloves) during UFC 327 at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Although the UFC has yet to make a decision regarding Ulberg, UFC CEO Dana White told Spinnin’ Backfist recently that the possibility of an interim title in Ulberg’s absence is very much in play.
White had previously provided the media with an update on Ulberg in April following the UFC’s event in Winnipeg.
“One of the good things about it is, he was at Power Slap last night, and I was talking to him, and he’s gonna stay in Vegas,” White said.
White said the UFC Performance Institute prevents the frequency of needing to put an in interim title on the line when needed.
Dana White Categorizes UFC PI As Beneficial
Zuffa LLC
“What we would do before we built the Performance Institute is we would get these guys surgeries with great doctors, and then they’d go home, and they wouldn’t do anything, they didn’t do any physical therapy or recovery,” White said. “Now with the PI, that place has saved more fights and helped more athletes prolong their careers. We’ll get him in there, and see how fast he starts to recover and we always figure it out.”
For now, despite Ankalaev’s win, the division still remains in a bit of a fragile state. Only time will tell.
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