Carlos Ulberg won the light heavyweight championship at UFC 327, but risks having to vacate it due to an injury suffered in the fight.
He might already be doing a test run on living without the title.
On Monday, Ulberg told Fox Sports Australia that after winning the belt with a stunning knockout over Jiri Prochazka this past Saturday in Miami, he simply misplaced it afterward. One moment, Ulberg was in the octagon celebrating with his team and family, the party carried on to a nightclub, and the rest is a blur.
“I’ve lost the belt, bro,” Ulberg said. “I don’t know exactly where it is. Initially after winning, the plan was to not have a drink. But you know how these things go, right? First, someone gives you a champagne to celebrate. Then one thing leads to another and you’re doing shots. So it’s ‘OK, I’ll have another, and another, and another…’ We’ve got a big group of boys over here in Miami and, when the fight was done, we all went out to the afterparty at a nightclub.
“Then after that, it was back to one of the boys’ apartments and we all hung out there. I didn’t want to be carrying the belt around so I think it’s still there at the apartment somewhere. One of the boys probably has it in bed with him.”
Ulberg doesn’t sound too overly concerned about the belt going missing, especially since he’s having to hang around the U.S. a bit longer due to his injury. Early in the first round of the UFC 327 main event, Ulberg tweaked his knee and was visibly compromised as he worked through the nightmare situation with Prochazka bearing down on him. Somehow, Ulberg landed a power left hand that floored Prochazka and followed with ground-and-pound to secure the championship win.
Until he can have his leg injury diagnosed, Ulberg plans to put off his return to his native New Zealand and get checked out in Las Vegas.
“My knee is really swollen so I’ll stay in the U.S. for scans and then, if I need to go under the knife, I will,” Ulberg said. “I think I’ll fly to Las Vegas in the next few days and see the doctors there. Then I can do physio at the UFC Performance Institute and get looked after by the guys there. That’s the plan. Get the knee sorted in Las Vegas and hang around for a few weeks.”
Ulberg was signed off of Dana White’s Contender Series after just his fourth pro MMA fight, and after losing his UFC debut he rattled off 10 consecutive victories to make it to the top of the light heavyweight division. He’s no stranger to the perils of combat sports, having competed in kickboxing prior to making a full commitment to MMA.
That past experience has helped him to process his current predicament.
“Well, I’ve been hobbling around everywhere,” Ulberg said. “So my knee isn’t really wanting to forgive me right now. It’s all been a crazy, crazy whirlwind and I’m just going with it.
“It’s been a bit like when I was kickboxing, and broke my hand during King of the Ring. It was in the second fight on a night where I fought three times. Then after fighting, I’d actually booked a holiday that weekend so still went away. It was only after getting back that I went and saw a doctor who said, ‘You need surgery.’ I already knew and said, ‘OK, let’s get it done.’ And I think that’s what we’re facing now.”
