As Carlos Ulberg hobbled around the UFC octagon in his attempt to capture the light heavyweight crown, his coaches had no questions as to what was unfolding before them.
After what appeared to be a clash of knees early in the contest against Czech finisher Jiri Prochazka, Ulberg suffered a knee injury and was struggling to put weight on his left leg.
But in a case of fight or flight, the Kiwi chose the former.
Despite struggling with the injury, Ulberg maintained his composure and focus on the task of clinching the championship. Every time he fell, he bounced straight back up and looked for an opportunity to strike.
Speaking to the Herald from Miami after the bout, Ulberg said he knew he only needed one shot.
He found it late in the first round, knocking Prochazka out with a crisp left hook to become the undisputed UFC light heavyweight champion.
“We could see that the leg was gone, and it’s in those moments that a fighter decides whether he’s going to stay focused or he’s going to sit down,” City Kickboxing striking coach Mike Angove told the Herald.
“You know, there are fighters who would just sit down or they would wait for their leg to go and then stay down. Carlos showed none of that. He had to overcome it, he had to make a choice.”
While there has been plenty of speculation, the full extent of the injury has not yet been confirmed.
Ulberg was scheduled to undergo medical tests in the US this morning to get a diagnosis and an indication of how long the 35-year-old will be out of action for.
“He’ll have top specialists looking at that and then we just need to see what the diagnosis and then the prognosis is,” Angove said.
“I can tell you he won’t be kicking for the next few weeks, that’s for sure.”
Had the fight gotten out of the first round, it would have been interesting to see how things unfolded.
While it’s all hypothetical now, Angove said, because of the occasion and the fact Ulberg was managing the injury well, the corner would not have considered stopping the fight.
“I mean, that’s a moot point because it didn’t get back to the corner. He landed the shot he needed to land. But in short, no. You know what you have to do. You need to find the shot. You don’t give up,” Angove said.
“Those fights, the opportunity to fight for a title, don’t come up. Not only do they not come up every day, but you can miss that opportunity and never again get the chance. So, no, there wouldn’t have been a case of throwing in the towel. That’s not how we would look at that fight.
“If a fighter is taking sustained damage then it’s the corner’s job to protect the fighter. But when you’ve got the case where you’re managing an injury, you know you need a single shot to win, you give your fighter every opportunity to win. But all that’s a moot point. It never happened. Carlos found the shot, he showed the presence of mind, he showed the calm under pressure and he found the kill shot. And it’s a very special gift both to have that one-off punching power that you can do that and, two, to have the presence of mind to find that shot under duress and that’s what Carlos did.”
With the win, Ulberg became the second New Zealand-born UFC champion, joining Australian representative Robert Whittaker. He also became the second New Zealand-based athlete to win a UFC title, alongside City Kickboxing teammate Israel Adesanya.
“That’s immense. That is history written,” Angove said of Ulberg’s achievement.
“And history really rewritten in the sense that we’re such a small country that to be able to do that and do that consistently ... this is showing that it’s not just a flash in the pan. It’s a system and it’s a gym that is one of the most elite gyms in the world, staffed by some of the best coaches you’ll find anywhere in the world and Carlos is a testament to that in the sense that, you know, it’s not just one athlete, it’s a succession of athletes and consistent success at the highest level.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.