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<\/p>\nCarlos Ulberg was a few minutes into his UFC debut and already his work seemed to be just about finished. This was March of 2021, back when COVID was still a deterrent to large indoor gatherings and the UFC was still putting on pay-per-view events in its own little Apex arena.<\/p>\n
That meant it was nice and quiet in the cozy confines, nothing like the throng of fans he\u2019ll fight in front of at Kaseya Center in Miami on Saturday, when he challenges for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 327. Viewers of the prelim broadcast back in 2021 could still hear the crisp thwack of Ulberg\u2019s gloves as they found a home on Kennedy Nzechukwu\u2019s face. They could almost feel the dull thud of an early head kick that sent Nzechukwu staggering off to one side.<\/p>\n
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This newcomer from New Zealand\u2019s kickboxing scene, still fresh off a quick knockout win on Dana White\u2019s Contender Series a few months earlier, seemed to have the goods. A finish couldn\u2019t be far off. Not with the way Ulberg was landing, which at one point in the first round prompted referee Herb Dean to call for Nzechukwu to show he was still in the fight.<\/p>\n
Turned out, yeah, he was. After barely surviving the opening frame, Nzechukwu found Ulberg considerably slowed in the second by a mixture of adrenaline and overexertion. The short notice. The effort he\u2019d poured into finding that knockout blow. It had all taken a toll on the UFC newbie. A cracking right hand to the jaw from Nzechuckwu put him down, and a few follow-up punches put the first loss on Ulberg\u2019s professional MMA record.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first I was like, \u2018Herb Dean, why did you stop it? I was all good!\u2019 Then I watched the fight,\u201d Ulberg told Uncrowned.<\/p>\n
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Carlos Ulberg’s UFC debut ended poorly at the hands of Kennedy Nzechukwu in March 2021.<\/p>\n
(Jeff Bottari via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
What he saw on that replay was his own body crumpled against the fence, hands nowhere near his face, offering nothing resembling an intelligent defense. It was exhaustion as much as the force of the blow that did it. But it was also a problem with his preparation, Ulberg realized.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI was a part-time fighter then,\u201d he said. \u201cI was fresh and I was green on the MMA scene, coming from kickboxing, where I was used to three-minute rounds. I was winning up until I wasn\u2019t. But the big thing was, after that fight I got a [$50,000 Fight of the Night] bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n
The money and the loss proved to be a powerful combination. The former gave Ulberg the means to commit himself to MMA as a full-time venture, and the latter gave him renewed motivation. He knew he was better than how he\u2019d represented himself on the sport\u2019s biggest stage. Now he just needed to prove it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first I think I was just happy to be in the UFC,\u201d Ulberg said. \u201cBut after that, I was like, nah, I\u2019m not going into these fights like this anymore. I\u2019m going to go in there and I\u2019m going to take over. I\u2019m going to take this thing from the person that\u2019s trying to take it from me. I think that mental change was what switched it up for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The results have been striking (no pun intended). Ulberg won his next nine fights in the UFC, with five of those coming by either knockout or TKO. In his latest outing, he slept former title challenger Dominick Reyes in the first round of a UFC main event<\/a>. It was an emphatic victory that seemed to announce him as the division\u2019s undeniable up-and-comer. Suddenly it was hard to talk title shots without at least speaking Ulberg\u2019s name as a possibility.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n
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