The UFC is going back to London for a Fight Night on March 22nd and yesterday, the promotion announced a couple of matchups that will be on the card. One of the matchups is a massive fight in the light heavyweight division which potential title implications. Former champion Jan Blachowicz (29-10-1) returns to take on surging top contender Carlos Ulberg.
Starting with Ulberg, he’s up to seventh in the UFC light heavyweight rankings. Coming out of City Kickboxing, the former kickboxer had a lot of hype when he joined the promotion after an appearance on The Contender Series. That said, Ulberg was humbled a bit in his debut getting finished in the second round.
However, he hasn’t lost since. He’s gone on a very impressive winning streak. He knocked out Alonzo Menifield in just 12 seconds back in May and then he took on former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir at UFC Macau just a few weeks ago. He won a decision in that one and now he’ll get to face a former champion.
UFC London
By the time Jan Blachowicz makes the walk in March, it will be for the first time in more than a year and a half. The last time we saw Blachowicz was when he took on current champion Alex Pereira in Pereira’s light heavyweight debut at UFC 291 in July 2023. Blachowicz lost by split decision in that one.
He was supposed to face Aleksandar Rakic in January of this year, but he had to pull out of the fight due to a shoulder injury and he’s been battling trying to get healthy. Blachowicz had an incredible run from July 2019 to March 2021 where he won six fights in a row and won the UFC light heavyweight title.
He also became the first person in MMA to defeat Israel Adesanya. He lost the title to Glover Teixeira and since losing the title in October 2021, he’s only fought three times. He’ll be 42 years old when he makes the walk in March so if he doesn’t win this next one, he might be done for his career.