Carlos Ulberg has wanted to fight Alex Pereira for years — not because of any beef or bad blood, but because he views “Poatan” in such high regard. Now that Pereira has moved up to heavyweight, that chance could be gone forever.
Regardless, Ulberg is set to compete for his first UFC world title as he faces Jiri Prochazka for the vacant light heavyweight title this Saturday in the main event of UFC 327. In the past, Ulberg told MMA Fighting that he saw Pereira as “superhuman,” and hoped to face “Poatan”
— whether a title was on the line or not.
While Ulberg is thrilled to get his shot at UFC gold, “Black Jag” was asked if a part of him was a a little bummed he wouldn’t be facing Pereira, when he would’ve been the frontrunner to get that bout before Pereira vacated the title.
“100 percent,” Ulberg told MMA Fighting. “Yeah, that’s it. It could be gone, right? But then again, that could present itself in some other way, and I’m pretty sure it might still happen. And, yeah, the respect is always still there, and he’s done the right thing: Move up and, and go for that third title. I’d do the same.
“If you’ve done what you need to do, you’ve proved yourself in the light heavyweight division and in the middleweight division, then why not go up and do something that no one’s ever done before, and I still believe that it could possibly happen and that is a massive fight. I can see that fight happening for sure.”
Now Ulberg brings a nine-fight win streak into his bout with Prochazka for the championship. The 35-year-old Ulberg finally gets his shot after a first-round knockout over Dominick Reyes in the main event of UFC Perth this past September.
A week later, Prochazka wrote his ticket with a comeback knockout win over past title challenger Khalil Rountree at UFC 320.
Both Ulberg and Prochazka sat in the crowd that same night to watch Pereira regain the title with a quick knockout over Magomed Ankalaev, and the stars just aligned for Ulberg to face another fighter he has tremendous respect for.
“Yeah, I mean, he is a likable guy, right?,’” Ulberg said. “He’s a likable guy when you’re a fan of the sport, because of just his personality and the things he says. It’s just quite out of the ordinary. But it works for him and it works well for him.
“I’ve always been a fan. I’ve always been someone to keep an eye on someone, a possible opponent, and, yeah, I’ve always, when I’ve crossed paths with them, I’ve been quite respectful.There’s always going to be respect when it comes to anyone that I could be possibly fighting, or any fighter.”
Pereira is the only fighter to defeat Prochazka in the UFC, knocking “BJP” out both times they competed with the belt on the line at UFC 295 in November 2023, and again at UFC 303 seven months later.
Ulberg addressed if he took a lot away from Pereira’s knockout victories to help set him up for success this Saturday in The Sunshine State.
“Yeah, for sure,” Ulberg explained. “Every fight’s going to be different, every opponent’s going to be different and pose their different threats. Styles make fights, so it’s like, what might work for Pereira may not work for someone else. What may work for Jiri may not work for someone else.
“So it’s just about going in there and finding my flow. It’s about whoever finds their flow first, I think that’s what’s going to get them that win.”
