Kiwi Carlos Ulberg has taken another step towards his dream of a UFC light-heavyweight crown, surviving an examination from Swiss Volkan Oezdemir at Macau.
Both fighters arrived with reputations for early finishes, but battled out the three rounds, with Ulberg taking a slim unanimous decision — the judges scored the fight 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in his favour.
Oezdemir entered the contest ranked two spots ahead of his City Kickboxing opponent in eighth, and the result will now see Ulberg edge his way closer to the top and a crack at the belt currently held by Brazilian Alex Pereira.
His seven-fight winning streak is the longest active in the Ultimate Fight Championship light-heavyweight division.
"Volkan is an experienced fighter and he's been in there with the best, so to prepare for a guy like that was tough," reflected Ulberg, whose mixed martial arts record improved to 12-1. "It was a mountain."
The 'Black Jag' controlled most of the fight, but had to withstand two attempted takedowns in the final round.
"The gameplan was tough, because if you get caught in the mid-range with that guy, he can knock anybody out, so to prepare for him, we had to try to make him miss and make him pay," he said. "That was the name of the game really."
Oezdemir has previously challenged for the title, losing by second-round technical knockout to American Daniel Cormier in 2018.
"I'm most proud of having to use my right hand this time," said Ulberg. "I've been using my left hand to try and find the knockout.
"He managed to close the cage a little more than I thought, but we managed to keep him at range."
Oezdemir represented the toughest opponent on Ulberg's list of victims so far, and the result should springboard him to bigger and better things. The last man to face Pereira — and lose — was American Khalil Rountree, currently ranked sixth in the division, and Ulberg sees him or someone like him as the next step towards a title shot.
"Khalil had the opportunity last time, so my next step would be against a guy like Khalil Rountree," he said.
UFC will return to Sydney in February and Ulberg would love to find a place on that card.
"It's always nice to fight in front of our own fans and people back home, or closer to home anyway, if anyone else closer to the title would be ready to fight me in that short space of time... "
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