Carlos Ulberg has had a couple of different nicknames in his day. The first, “Ladies Night,” because there was a stretch about a decade ago — just before he discovered the joy of fighting — that he worked as a male stripper all over greater New Zealand and Australia. The other, “Black Jag,” because, well, that’s his alter ego. The thinking is that, whenever Ulberg goes into Black Jag mode, he abruptly darkens from his usual nice-guy self to become a legitimate danger.
Perhaps what his nickname should be is “The Under.”
That’s because whenever people see him on a fight card, the first thing that pops into a degenerate’s head is to bet the under. On whole, Ulberg’s fights don’t last all that long. He’s a violent collision for any high-class light heavyweight, and four of the last six he’s faced didn’t survive the first round. Another one, Jung Da-un, was savvy enough to last deep into the third against Ulberg, before tapping out just 11 seconds before the credits were to roll.
Still, on Saturday, when Ulberg steps in to face Jan Blachowicz in the co-main event at UFC London, Vegas is respecting the former champion Blachowicz’s chances of seeing the scorecards at the end. Right now it’s +120 at BetMGM that the fight goes under two-and-a-half rounds, which is a testament to the 42-year-old Blachowicz’s staying power over Ulberg’s disposal power.
Why is that?
“Well, Jan’s a very smart fighter,” Ulberg says. “He’s got a good strategy, and I think the game that we need to play is a very smart play. He’s playing chess, not checkers, so we have to be a player in this game, too.”
If fighting is a chess game, as you often hear, then Ulberg has a way of putting an opponent in check from the jump. When he faced Alonzo Menifield last May in St. Louis, it’s was a classic fool’s mate in those terms. He knocked Menifield out in just 12 seconds. Against Ihor Potieria, it only felt like a matter of time, too. Ulberg was like a bowstring that had been pulled back for six months before being let go. Potieria made it past the two-minute mark before Black Jag clubbed him with a violent series of shots.
All of this is to say that Ulberg, who enters this weekend’s fight on a seven-fight win streak and a -300 favorite, is on the verge of making himself into a serious contender at 205 pounds. A couple of weeks back, when Alex Pereira was defending the light heavyweight title against Magomed Ankalaev in Las Vegas at UFC 313, the narrative was that should Pereira win he’d have cleaned out the division.
Obviously, that didn’t happen. Ankalaev won a milquetoast decision to wrest the belt away from Poatan, setting up a rematch for later this year. But from Ulberg’s perspective, there was a snag in this way of thinking the whole time. Pereira hadn’t cleaned out anything so long as Ulberg was still out there. He still covets a chance to fight his kickboxing brethren, and Pereira’s extended stay in the light heavyweight division is good news for his chances of seeing him down the road.
“When you’re looking at a future fight with Pereira, it’s definitely in the books for me, and I see that happening for sure,” he says. “This [Blachowicz fight] sets us up for the title. This sets us up for the title for sure. We’ve still got a bit of time. If this fight goes ahead with the rematch with Ankalaev and Pereira, it’ll be a while. But either way I see myself fighting for the title next after this fight here.”
If there’s reason to believe the 34-year-old Ulberg might be flagged for a title run, it’s not only in the UFC’s recent history, it’s in the house where Ulberg trains. His longtime training partner at City Kickboxing in Auckland, Israel Adesanya, held the middleweight title for a long time while Ulberg was cutting his teeth in the sport. And Adesanya’s great rival, Pereira, has held titles in two weight classes while emerging as one of the biggest stars in the UFC.
The common link between all three? Kickboxing. All of them were kickboxers before segueing into the mixed techniques. Which is an unexpected trend from where MMA was a decade ago, when, broadly speaking, wrestlers ruled the domain. A kickboxing base in those days was helpful, but generally not enough. Traditionally, even the world’s deadliest willows stood no chance against a dedicated weed whacker.
What has changed over the course of time to even the playing field?
“I mean, 80% of the time I’m training, it’s wrestling,” Ulberg says. “I’m not doing much of kickboxing. I mean, I am … but we’re doing things to negate the wrestlers, right? We’re doing things to make sure that we’re on top of our game. When it comes to being at the top level, I have to make sure that I am on par with these guys.
“I guess it also comes down to just the experience that a lot of these fighters do have. I mean, Pereira was dominant for a little while and the fans loved him, the fans loved him, and that’s all it comes down to. You draw a crowd and you draw a bit of confidence from that, and I think that that’s what the superpower he built from being able to draw that confidence.”
The confidence Ulberg has comes from those around him. He’s been around Eugene Bareman at City Kickboxing, a winner of the highest order. He’s been around Izzy and the longtime featherweight champ, Alexander Volkanovski, each of whom fought far more frequently than any champion should. He’s seen the glint of gold coming off those belts, to the point that the concept of winning feels entirely lived in.
“Yep, for sure,” he says. “It’s the blueprint. It definitely gives hope for someone like me. When you see guys do really well in the gym and in your peer group, they bring you up. They bring you up just by doing what you’ve come into the gym to do. When you’ve all trained together and you see it works, then you’re like, ‘OK, well maybe I could do the same, too.’ It definitely brings a bit of hope.”
Still, there’s a thick slab of no-nonsense, blue-collar Warsaw power awaiting him in London.
Ulberg has gone on record plenty in the lead-up to Saturday’s fight predicting Blachowicz will try to wrestle him. That would make sense, given Ulberg’s sniper ability on the feet. When Blachowicz fought Ulberg’s teammate, Adesanya, five years ago, he all but donned a singlet. The tape predicts just how Saturday’s fight might go, and Ulberg says he’s happy to confront whatever the old guard throws his way.
“He’s 42-year-young, he’s experienced, and I think he is had a bit of time to reassess himself, too,” Ulberg says of Blachowicz’s nearly 20-month hiatus. “He would’ve definitely done his study during his time off, but I’ve always been inspired by guys like Blachowicz. I’ve always watched them on the come up and even just before I was in MMA or fighting in MMA, I was just watching guys like Blachowicz. So it’s nice to be here and be able to co-main an event in London, at the big O2 Arena against Jan Blachowicz. He’s a tough test, man. He’s tough, and my job is just to go in there and get the job done.”
