Carlos Ulberg Eyes Title Contention Following Victory at UFC London

Jan Blachowicz was a measuring stick fight for Carlos Ulberg.

The City Kickboxing representative proved himself in the UFC London co-main event, taking a closely-contested unanimous verdict over the former light heavyweight champion at the O2 Arena on Saturday.

“If you look at the current champion [Magomed Ankalaev] and the former champion [Alex Pereira], their last fight with Jan Blachowicz was a very close fight, as well,” Ulberg said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I beat him with a unanimous decision, so it’s a very good feat for me.”

The triumph wasn’t a thing of beauty, especially for someone who had finished five of his previous seven Octagon opponents. However, Ulberg acknowledged that it’s often difficult to look good against someone with Blachowicz’s style.

“We knew he was gonna come out tough and exactly how he came out,” Ulberg said. “He’s very good at lulling you to sleep. He’s very good at kind of putting this pressure [on] but not really doing anything. He kind of just waits on you to make the move.

“Our game plan was to stick and move and hopefully get him to walk into something. He was definitely smarter than that. He’s a veteran in the game and a little older now, so he knows not to walk into the younger power.”

While a Magomed Ankalaev-Alex Pereira championship rematch is expected to be the next step at the top of the division, Ulberg believes he deserves to be on the brink of a title shot.

“Eight-fight win streak, the longest win streak in the light heavyweight division,” he said. “I’m definitely looking at a light heavyweight title contention.”

It’s been a relatively rapid rise for “Black Jag,” who suffered a second-round knockout loss to Kennedy Nzechukwu in his promotional debut after earning a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series. Ulberg has improved significantly since then, building a winning streak that ranks among the longest among active fighters in the organization today.

“[It’s been a] great journey. I was quick to move,” he said. “Everything just happened on the fly. I came straight form a kickboxing career and had to learn on the job. When you put me in with the sharks, I swim. If you put me in with a title contender, I’ll get that title for sure.”