{"id":526505,"date":"2026-04-12T07:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T07:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/526505\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T07:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T07:58:09","slug":"ufc-327-carlos-ulberg-shocks-jiri-prochazka-in-first-round-despite-injuring-knee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/526505\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC 327: Carlos Ulberg shocks Jiri Prochazka in first round despite injuring knee"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fight was set up between second-ranked Prochazka and third-ranked Ulberg after former champion Alex Pereira vacated the title to move up to heavyweight.<\/p>\n

With 31 finishes from 39 fights, Prochazka is regarded as one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC and went into the contest as the favourite.<\/p>\n

Ulberg, meanwhile, who grew up in foster homes<\/a> before transitioning to martial arts after a spell in rugby league, earned the opportunity after knocking out former title challenger Dominick Reyes in September.<\/p>\n

Fan favourite Prochazka was serenaded by “let’s go Jiri” chants in the early stages, as Ulberg attacked with leg kicks.<\/p>\n

But Ulberg was soon in difficulties with his knee following an awkward landing while falling backwards.<\/p>\n

Prochazka appeared to invite Ulberg to stand and trade blows, with the New Zealander ignoring the offer.<\/p>\n

With Ulberg backing up against the cage, Prochazka stepped in while throwing punches but was caught by a flush counter left hook.<\/p>\n

With fans at octagon-side on their feet in shock and excitement, Ulberg then pounced on the fallen Prochazka to reign down punches as the referee stopped the fight.<\/p>\n

UFC president Dana White said in his post-fight news conference that the injury could be Ulberg’s anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), while commentator Daniel Cormier said Prochazka would have won had the fight gone past the first round.<\/p>\n

“If he went to his corner, this fight would have been done. His knee is blown out, he can’t even stand,” said Cormier.<\/p>\n

The UFC will be hoping Ulberg’s injury is not serious, with ACL tears usually taking more than nine months to heal fully following surgery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fight was set up between second-ranked Prochazka and third-ranked Ulberg after former champion Alex Pereira vacated the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-526505","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}