‘I’ve been studying Alex for a while’… Dangerous contender Carlos Ulberg discusses the possibility of fighting Pereira for UFC gold after his next bout

Carlos ‘Black Jag’ Ulberg returns to the UFC octagon next month for a crucial clash against veteran Volkan Oezdemir; a fight that could potentially catapult the popular New Zealander into light heavyweight title contention.

Yet as the young Kiwi prepares for the biggest fight of his professional career, he’s already got one eye on the man sitting atop the light heavyweight division, Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesCarlos Ulberg admits he’s been studying UFC champ Alex Pereira for a whileSpeaking to Sky Sport New Zealand alongside lightweight legend Dan Hooker, the ‘Black Jag’ would reveal that heading into UFC 307, he was picking Khalil Rountree to upset the applecart.   

“I had my money on Rountree, I thought Rountree would do quite well given how he’s quite explosive and could have given a different look to Alex Pereira, but as the rounds went on, I think Pereira came back and stuck to his gameplan which was to tire him out.”

Ulberg noted that whilst Pereira was ultimately able to find the finish in the fourth, Rountree did have his own fleeting moments of success on the feet, “but it was only for a good 10-15 seconds [and] it’s in those moments that you could capitalize on.”

Spoken like a true student of the game – a student who has been reviewing the striking style of Pereira for some time as he eyes a future showdown with the Brazilian.  

“I’ve been studying Alex for a while now, he’s at the top and he’s the prime right now, he’s definitely someone that everyone’s keeping an eye on so knowing that he has a high fight IQ, it’s always good to sit back and see how he operates in the octagon.

“I’m coming up and soon I’ll get my chance,” teased the surging New Zealander, who was quick to acknowledge how Rountree’s title shot from the #8 ranking also gives him hope of a surprise leapfrogging.

“Once I get through [Volkan] Oezdemir, which is a hard task for sure, it’s free reign from there and it’ll give me the opportunity to fight for the light heavyweight title… As you’ve just seen with the number 8 who’s just fought for the light heavyweight title, at any given time we could be called up for that.”

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Carlos Ulberg reveals broken toe six weeks before UFC returnCarlos Ulberg vs Volkan Oezdemir is scheduled for November 23 when the promotion returns to Macau, China – unfortunately, the ‘Black Jag’ also revealed that he’s just suffered a painful injury in training.

“It’s just going through the pain really of waking up,” he shared on training camp, before admitting that “I just broke my toe yesterday in sparring and didn’t realize I’d broken it until doing my sit-ups and seeing it was facing the other way.

“It’s just going through that pain and struggle, and then doing it all over again the next day so until then, I’m just doing what I need to do; what’s been working in my favor in the past, and just trying to keep to the same formula really.”

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With that light heavyweight showdown set to go down in just six weeks’ time, there’s plenty of time for the broken toe to heal; time that’ll be used to figure out a gameplan that’ll see Ulberg getting his hand raised in Macau.

“I’ve still got six weeks to finalize everything and figure out what’s going to happen for my game plan, but I kind of have a feel of what is going to happen.

“In the last two weeks, that’s when I’ll start to feel my feet and the gameplan will come together… I have full confidence in myself that I’ll go in there to put on a show and get the win but when it comes to the gameplan, everything kind of formulates in the last two weeks or so.”

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