Carlos Ulberg was moments away from watching the UFC light heavyweight title slip away after suffering a knee injury, and then “Black Jag” delivered a wild moment in Miami and took it all back.
Ulberg captured the vacant light heavyweight title with a stunning knockout of Jiri Prochazka in the main event of UFC 327 on Saturday night. In the first round, Ulberg faced huge adversity after badly hurting his leg following an awkward misstep, and while Prochazka chopped the legs down with hard kicks, he seemed to let up a bit, and out of nowhere, Ulberg landed a left hook that flattened Prochazka, and led to the belt being wrapped around his waist.
“It is all over the place at the moment and hasn’t really sunk in,” Ulberg said at the UFC 327 post-fight press conference. “The team is happy, we’re happy, we came in and we got the job done, and that’s what we are here for is to get that title, and we did that.”
With each leg kick Prochazka landed, and each step Ulberg took in the octagon, the injury got worse and worse, and it appeared “BJP” was a kick or two away of becoming a two-time world champion.
Despite everything he was going through at the time, Ulberg remained laser-focused.
“Yeah, it’s just adapting on the fly,” Ulberg said. “We’ve had issues like this before. We’re in a big fight and you expect things like this to happen, so I never counted myself out at any moment.
“But we knew that this was going to be an issue at the time, and how do we adapt with it? How do we adapt to it?”
In his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Prochazka admitted he “showed mercy” to Ulberg after the injury, and perhaps, let his foot off the gas a little bit for his fellow warrior’s sake.
That mistake cost him big, and Ulberg took advantage of it before reacting to the moment further, and Prochazka’s comments on the fight.
“Just sticking to the plan, sticking to the game plan, and I think that’s what got us there in the end was staying calm and whatever fire came through us. I guess Jiri made the mistake of coming forward as I was on the cage and he walked into that left hook. …
“I feel like he made the mistake there because I would not have done the same. If you’re in there to get that title, you do whatever it takes to get that win.”
As of now, there’s no word on the exact injury that Ulberg suffered, and it will likely take a few days to determine once he’s able to see a medical professional and take the appropriate tests. When asked if he could take a guess of how long he could be out for, Ulberg is trying to stay as positive as possible.
“I’m no doctor,” Ulberg said. “I have no idea what’s going to happen, but all I know is we’ll go and assess it, see what happens, and then try to get into the gym as soon as I can. Hopefully it’s not as bad as it may seem, but I’m looking to get in the gym as soon as I can.”
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