Carlos ‘Black Jag’ Ulberg returns to the UFC octagon subsequent month for an important conflict towards veteran Volkan Oezdemir; a combat that might probably catapult the favored New Zealander into mild heavyweight title rivalry.
But because the younger Kiwi prepares for the largest combat of his skilled profession, he’s already obtained one eye on the person sitting atop the sunshine heavyweight division, Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira.
Carlos Ulberg admits he’s been learning UFC champ Alex Pereira for some time
Talking to Sky Sport New Zealand alongside light-weight legend Dan Hooker, the ‘Black Jag’ would reveal that heading into UFC 307, he was choosing Khalil Rountree to upset the applecart.
“I had my cash on Rountree, I believed Rountree would do fairly effectively given how he’s fairly explosive and will have given a special look to Alex Pereira, however because the rounds went on, I feel Pereira got here again and caught to his gameplan which was to tire him out.”
Ulberg famous that while Pereira was finally capable of finding the end within the fourth, Rountree did have his personal fleeting moments of success on the ft, “nevertheless it was just for 10-15 seconds [and] it’s in these moments that you could possibly capitalize on.”
Spoken like a real pupil of the sport – a pupil who has been reviewing the placing type of Pereira for a while as he eyes a future showdown with the Brazilian.
“I’ve been learning Alex for some time now, he’s on the prime and he’s the prime proper now, he’s positively somebody that everybody’s maintaining a tally of so realizing that he has a excessive combat IQ, it’s at all times good to take a seat again and see how he operates within the octagon.
“I’m arising and shortly I’ll get my likelihood,” teased the surging New Zealander, who was fast to acknowledge how Rountree’s title shot from the #8 rating additionally offers him hope of a shock leapfrogging.
“As soon as I get via [Volkan] Oezdemir, which is a tough activity for positive, it’s free reign from there and it’ll give me the chance to combat for the sunshine heavyweight title… As you’ve simply seen with the quantity 8 who’s simply fought for the sunshine heavyweight title, at any given time we could possibly be known as up for that.”
Carlos Ulberg reveals damaged toe six weeks earlier than UFC return
Carlos Ulberg vs Volkan Oezdemir is scheduled for November 23 when the promotion returns to Macau, China – sadly, the ‘Black Jag’ additionally revealed that he’s simply suffered a painful harm in coaching.
“It’s simply going via the ache actually of waking up,” he shared on coaching camp, earlier than admitting that “I simply broke my toe yesterday in sparring and didn’t notice I’d damaged it till doing my sit-ups and seeing it was dealing with the opposite manner.
“It’s simply going via that ache and wrestle, after which doing it once more the subsequent day so till then, I’m simply doing what I have to do; what’s been working in my favor up to now, and simply attempting to maintain to the identical components actually.”
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With that mild heavyweight showdown set to go down in simply six weeks’ time, there’s loads of time for the damaged toe to heal; time that’ll be used to determine a gameplan that’ll see Ulberg getting his hand raised in Macau.
“I’ve nonetheless obtained six weeks to finalize every thing and determine what’s going to occur for my sport plan, however I type of have a really feel of what will occur.
“Within the final two weeks, that’s after I’ll begin to really feel my ft and the gameplan will come collectively… I’ve full confidence in myself that I’ll go in there to placed on a present and get the win however in relation to the gameplan, every thing type of formulates within the final two weeks or so.”
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