Tomorrow morning on the main card of UFC Macau, we are going to see a banger of a matchup in the light heavyweight division. Former title challenger and 8th ranked light heavyweight contender Volkan “No Time” Oezdemir (20-7) will take on 10th ranked Carlos Ulberg (10-1).
Starting with Oezdemir, he’s really turned his career around over the last couple of years. After winning his first three UFC bouts, Oezdemir got a title shot against Daniel Cormier. He lost that fight and starting with that loss, he went just 2-5 in his next seven fights. That said, he’s 3-1 in his last four and he’s won back-to-back fights including a first round knockout over Johnny Walker heading into UFC Macau.
Standing across from him is Carlos Ulberg. The former professional kickboxer fighting out of City Kickboxing had a lot of hype entering the UFC. However, he showed some inexperience in his debut and was stopped by Kennedy Nzechukwu. He hasn’t lost since. Ulberg has gone on an incredible run winning six straight fights. The last time we saw him was back in May when he knocked out Alonzo Menifield in just 12 seconds.
UFC Macau Prediction
We know that these two are going to stand and trade and the odds are, this fight isn’t going the distance. Oezdemir has incredible power and I suspect that Ulberg is really going to respect that power. Because of that respect, I expect Ulberg to fight very technically and he’ll be at a big advantage.
Ulberg is not only powerful, but he has incredible technique. If these two are purely striking, I think Ulberg is going to pick him apart. With that, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Oezdemir try to grapple to mix things up at UFC Macau. That said, I don’t think it’ll matter.
I think the hype train behind Ulberg picks up some steam after tomorrow because I see him finishing Oezdemir in the second round.
Prediction: Carlos Ulberg by TKO