Miami — On a nine-fight win streak, City Kickboxing’s Carlos Ulberg heads into his first UFC title fight in the main event of UFC 327 this Saturday.
The fight with Jiri Prochazka is a striking fan’s dream, with Prochazka promising to work on his notorious slow starts. Ulberg, meanwhile, doesn’t expect the Czech star to come out reckless, but he does see holes in the former champ’s game.
“I definitely see a lot of holes in the game, I think there’s a lot of fighters with holes in their game,” stated Ulberg (13-1) during Wednesday’s media day, before adding “I’m purely focused on what I bring to the table. I go in there and do what I do best.”
Becoming champion and being the best light heavyweight in the world is something “Black Jag” always had faith in, he told media outlets including Cageside Press.
“I always knew that I was going to be the best, and that I was working towards being the best. This division, you throw a punch and you land, anyone can fall. It’s a game of inches,” Ulberg said. “I always had that belief in myself, and now we’re here. It’s just about proving it to others.”
Nor did he shy away from envisioning what winning the title would be like. “There’s always the vision, you’ve got to have that belief and the faith that you can get that belt and visualize it. I guess the pure focus is me just going in there and getting the work done and handling business.”
The UFC 327 main event is as notable for who isn’t fighting in it as who is. Alex Pereira vacated his light heavyweight title in favor of a move to heavyweight; that facilitated Prochazka vs. Ulberg. “Poatan” Pereira, meanwhile, remains a fight that is of great interest to Carlos Ulberg.
“I would have loved to have fought the champion, definitely, because that would have etched me up to be the best. He is the man right now and he’s definitely the man I wanted to fight for the title,” Ulberg said on Wednesday.
The New Zealander believes the bout could still happen. “I think a dominant win here could definitely lure Pereira back to the division, and test himself as well.”
As he later put it, “to be the man you’ve got the beat the man, if you want to be the best you’ve got to beat him [Pereira]. So he’s definitely a guy that I’ve been keeping a close eye on, and wanting that fight, because I know that would be the fight to make happen.”
That said, Ulberg noted that “the pure focus has always been, and it’s always been for me, focusing on what’s at hand and what’s in front of me.”
That would be Jiri Prochazka this Saturday.
Watch the full UFC 327 media day appearance by Carlos Ulberg above.
