Carlos Ulberg’s Slow Burn

After Alonzo Menifield put away Jimmy Crute with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their UFC 290 rematch in July, he exited the cage and returned to the relative calm of the locker room, where a small group of fellow competitors had gathered to greet him. Carlos Ulberg was among them. As their paths crossed, a small but persistent flame ignited.

“It was more of just a mental agreement,” Ulberg said. “We shook hands in the back. I congratulated him for his fight, and we looked at each other, like, ‘OK, we know we’re going to fight each other eventually.’”

Those thoughts have come to fruition less than a year later, as the two Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweights are set to lock horns in a featured UFC on ESPN 56 attraction this Saturday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. Ulberg has long admired Menifield from afar, looking on as the Saekson’s Muay Thai product forced his way into the Top 15 at 205 pounds with an unbeaten run that has seen him go 4-0-1 since a December 2021 decision defeat to William Knight.

“I’ve been watching Menifield for quite some time now,” Ulberg said at the pre-fight media day for UFC on ESPN 56. “Stylistically, it’s a good fight for me, depending on where it goes. I like Menifield. He’s strong. He’s powerful. He’s explosive, as we all know. He’s got the punching power. But he’s in my way.”

As Ulberg approaches his first encounter with the Los Angeles native, he can envision scenarios in which the two men rise alongside one another, leading to a prolonged rivalry between them.

“This won’t be the last time we fight each other,” Ulberg said. “I see that he’ll be climbing his way through the ranks after we fight. We definitely will be fighting each other more than once. If you look at his record, he’s fought a lot of the guys, like top guys, and he just been knocking them out. Very good style. He’s able to lull people to sleep. I know when I beat him, he’ll eventually make his way back up and we’ll fight again.”

Anchored at the same City Kickboxing camp in Auckland, New Zealand, that gave rise to former UFC champions Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski, Ulberg carries a five-fight winning streak into the cage with him. However, forces outside of his control have kept him on the sidelines since he submitted Da Woon Jung with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their UFC 293 pairing on Sept. 9. Subsequent bookings with the oft-injured Dominick Reyes fell through, resulting in an extended period of inactivity. Ulberg has kept a level head about the situation.

“It’s just allowed me to stay in the gym, get honest work in and stay focused,” he said. “It’s obviously been nine months since my last fight, but it’s allowed me to stay in the gym, to be able to learn on the way and keep grinding at staying fit and breaking barriers. I’ve always wanted to challenge myself and break those barriers, so now that we’re a couple days away from the fight, I’m feeling fit, I’m feeling strong and I’m ready to go.”

At 33 years of age and with plenty of tread still on the tires, Ulberg desires to make a push toward contention in the days, weeks and months ahead. First, the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate must deal with Menifield—a man with 13 finishes among his 15 professional victories, 10 of them by knockout.

“You can’t look past Alonzo,” Ulberg said. “He’s a powerful fighter. He’s explosive, so I can’t look past that. But I am looking towards the future where I want to head towards. The UFC is unpredictable, especially in the light heavyweight division. Anything can happen. At one point, [you] could be in the Top 10, and [suddenly] you’re fighting for the title. I’m prepared for this. At some point, I know I’m going to be in that Top 5 eventually.”

Despite his current run of sustained success—his five-fight tear includes finishes of the aforementioned Jung, Ihor Potieria, Nicolae Negumereanu and Tafon Nchukwi—Ulberg remains conspicuously absent from the UFC light heavyweight rankings. He takes it all in stride.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Ulberg said. “Time will tell. When I get in there and steamroll some of these fighters, then they’ll see. If the [fighters ahead of me] prove themselves, then they deserve to be there. When they’re in my way, I’m going to do what I do.”