Tomorrow in the co-main event of UFC London, we are going to see the return of a former world champion. Former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz (29-10-1) is back as he takes on the dangerous rising contender Carlos Ulberg (11-1).
Starting with Ulberg, this is a golden opportunity for him to jump right into title contention. The former kickboxer has been on an incredible run over the past three years. After earning a contract on The Contender Series, Ulberg was knocked out in his UFC debut. Since then, he’s won seven fights in a row including five knockouts and a decision win over former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir back in November.
He’s going to have his hands full tomorrow with Polish Power Jan Blachowicz. When Blachowicz came over to the UFC, he was 17-3 and a KSW champion. However, he went just 2-4 in his first four fights and many wondered if he’d ever be a top contender. He then went on a stretch where he went 7-1 which led him to a vacant title fight with Dominick Reyes.
He won the title by knocking Reyes out and then became the first man to defeat Israel Adesanya in his first title defense. He lost the title to Glover Teixeira and then bounced back with a win over Aleksandar Rakic. He fought for the vacant title against Magomed Ankalaev and fought to a draw and then he lost a split decision to Alex Pereira in July 2023. We haven’t seen him since due to shoulder injuries.
UFC London Prediction
I really don’t know what to expect from Blachowicz tomorrow. The former champion just turned 42-years-old and he had been dealing with some serious shoulder issues which is why he’s been out for nearly two years. In addition, he didn’t look sensational in his last few fights. The power is there but he looked slower and his cardio wasn’t great either.
Meanwhile you have Ulberg on the other hand who is looking better than ever and he continues to improve. I think this fight is a showcase fight for Ulberg where he can really show off his technical advantage and his speed advantage. The one thing he can’t do is get careless. If he gets careless, he can go to sleep at UFC London.
However, I think he keeps things technical and he punches his ticket to title contention with a clean performance over fifteen minutes.
Prediction: Carlos Ulberg by Decision