Carlos Ulberg won the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 327, but the new champion left the fight dealing with a knee injury that could alter the next chapter of his career. Ulberg damaged his knee in the opening round against Jiří Procházka and said afterward the leg was painful enough that he could not put weight on it.
“It was just a freak accident, the knee felt like it was going in and out of the socket, it felt like a pain there and I couldn’t bear to put any weight on that leg,” Ulberg said. He added that he and his team were waiting to learn more and that he would get scans when he arrives in Las Vegas this week.
The title fight carried extra weight because it was Ulberg’s first crack at UFC gold. He entered the bout on a 10-fight win streak, then met Procházka for a vacant belt after Alex Pereira vacated the UFC light heavyweight title before moving up to the heavyweight division.
The matchup also put Ulberg in the same storyline Procházka knows too well. Procházka previously held the light heavyweight belt, but his own reign ended because of a shoulder injury, and there was immediate concern after UFC 327 that Ulberg could be sidelined for an extended period too.
Ulberg said the next step is medical. The scans in Las Vegas should show whether the injury is a short-term setback or something that interrupts a run that had pushed him to the top of the division just as the belt became available.