UFC Perth: Carlos Ulberg’s journey from NRL dreams to UFC stardom continues

UFC challenger Carlos Ulberg might aspire to the light heavyweight title, but his sporting ambitions were not always in mixed martial arts.

The Kiwi fighter, who is set to headline the upcoming Fight Night in Perth, once had dreams of NRL stardom.

Ulberg told The Australian Associated Press he initially planned to play rugby professionally until a sporting scrap changed everything.

At 22, he played for the Ōtāhuhu Leopards, made the Counties Manukau development squad, and the Warriors coaches had expressed interest in his play.

But after the Fox Memorial Cup game broke out in a brawl, Ulberg’s future was destabilised in an instant.

A keen kickboxer, he responded to the other team’s punches with leg strikes.

“I’m throwing knees at one of the guys and just got him in a clinch, and the camera zooms in on me.”

Ulberg was banned from play for eight weeks and faced legal consequences.

Though devastating at the time, the fight quickly launched a new career for Ulberg.

“I put everything into that season and then it got taken away from me. I went straight to the boxing gym the very next week.”

Ulberg’s father had represented Samoa and New Zealand in boxing.

This inspired him to commit to the sport, and he ended up kickboxing in China for three years.

Ulberg and UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya train together. Photo / Chris Unger, DWCS LLC, Zuffa LLC

Soon he was setting his sights even further afield; the highly competitive realm of international MMA.

Training at City Kickboxing alongside UFC legend Israel Adesanya, Ulberg’s star began to rise.

He earned his UFC contract in 2020 after becoming a two-time champion of the King in the Ring tournament.

Currently, he has an eight-fight winning streak, which has earned him the status of third-ranked challenger in next month’s bout.

The September 28 fight will see him face American Dominick Reyes.

He hopes that a win against Reyes could soon see him vie for the title of the current light heavyweight champion, Magomed Ankalaev.