Carlos Ulberg lost the UFC belt he won on Saturday night in
Miami. | Getty/UFC
Carlos
Ulberg apparently misplaced a key piece of hardware during the
euphoria of his championship celebration.
“I lost the belt, bro,” Ulberg told Fox Sports Australia on Monday.
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Ulberg defeated Jiri
Prochazka via first-round knockout in the UFC 327
headliner at the Kaseya Center in Miami, capturing the vacant light
heavyweight title in the process. The
City Kickboxing stalwart didn’t seem too concerned regarding
the whereabouts of his belt, as he speculated that it was likely
left behind at some point during a night of partying.
I don’t know exactly where it is,” Ulberg said. “Initially after
winning, the plan was to not have a drink. But you know how these
things go, right? First, someone gives you a champagne to
celebrate. Then one thing leads to another and you’re doing shots.
So it’s ‘OK, I’ll have another, and another, and another …’
“We’ve got a big group of boys over here in Miami and, when the
fight was done, we all went out to the afterparty at a nightclub.
Then after that, it was back to one of the boys’ apartments and we
all hung out there. “I didn’t want to be carrying the belt around
so I think it’s still there at the apartment somewhere. One of the
boys probably has it in bed with him …”
Ulberg’s victory was even more impressive considering the fact that
he suffered an apparent knee injury early in the fight. In the
immediate aftermath of the win, “Black Jag” was admittedly less
focused on the ailment than he was enjoying the moment.
Crazy Whirlwind
“Well, I’ve been hobbling around everywhere. So my knee isn’t
really wanting to forgive me right now,” Ulberg said. “It’s all
been a crazy, crazy whirlwind and I’m just going with it.
“It’s been a bit like when I was kickboxing, and broke my hand
during King of the Ring. It was in the second fight on a night
where I fought three times. Then after fighting, I’d actually
booked a holiday that weekend so still went away. It was only after
getting back that I went and saw a doctor who said ‘you need
surgery’. I already knew and said ‘OK, let’s get it done’. And I
think that’s what we’re facing now …”
Ulberg expects to remain in the U.S. for further evaluation. If the
injury is a torn ACL as believed, he will likely do some rehab in
Las Vegas.
“My knee is really swollen so I’ll stay in the U.S. for scans and
then, if I need to go under the knife, I will,” Ulberg said. “I
think I’ll fly to Las Vegas in the next few days and see the
doctors there. Then I can do physio at the UFC Performance
Institute and get looked after by the guys there. That’s the plan.
Get the knee sorted in Las Vegas and hang around for a few weeks.
Obviously I’m also keen to get back home to the family. I’m a
family guy and I can’t wait to see them.”