The UFC returns to Macau, China later this year and they are bringing a major card. Yesterday, we learned that the card will be headlined by a potential title eliminator at bantamweight between Petr Yan and Deiveson Figueiredo. Last night, the promotion announced several other major fights for the card.
At UFC Macau, top ten light heavyweight contenders will battle it out as sixth ranked Volkan Oezdemir (20-7) takes on the surging Carlos Ulberg (10-1). The Macau card goes down on November 23rd and it marks the promotion’s return to China.
Starting with Oezdemir, he’s looking for his third straight win which could get him back into title contention. Back in 2018, Oezdemir got a crack at the title against Daniel Cormier. He was unbeaten inside the octagon at the time, but he was completely dominated by Cormier in that title fight.
Starting with that fight, Oezdemir went just 3-6 in nine fights. He looked like he wouldn’t find himself back in title contention again. However, last September he stopped Bogdan Guskov in the first round. Then earlier this year, he knocked out Johnny Walker in the first round. Now he’s potentially just another two wins away from challenging for UFC gold.
UFC Macau
Carlos Ulberg had a ton of hype when he entered the UFC. He earned a contract off The Contender Series and the former professional kickboxer was looking to rise up to the top quickly. He comes from the famous city kickboxing gym that has produced the likes of Israel Adesanya, Alexander Volkanovski, and Dan Hooker.
He debuted against Kennedy Nzechukwu and unfortunately was stopped in the second round. While that took off some of his shine, he didn’t let that get him down. Ulberg has gone on an incredible run that has seen him win six fights in a row and leads him to this fight at UFC Macau.
Not only has he won six in a row, he’s finished five of those fights. Most recently, he knocked out the dangerous Alonzo Menifield in 12 seconds back in May.