Carlos Ulberg was in the house to watch Magomed Ankalaev take care of business in the UFC Abu Dhabi main event and he has some thoughts on how the light heavyweight roster should be booked going forward.
The reigning 205-pound champion has been sidelined since April, when he won a vacant UFC title with a shocking knockout of Jiri Prochazka that occurred moments after Ulberg appeared to severely injure his leg. Ulberg later announced he tore his ACL in the fight, leaving his division in a strange place.
After watching Ankalaev beat Bogdan Guskov live at Etihad Arena, Ulberg took to his Instagram Stories on Sunday to provide an update on his health and do some fantasy matchmaking.
“I’ve been asked the same two questions repeatedly,” Ulberg wrote. “1) How is the leg? Strong enough to remind a few people who the champion is. 2) Who do you want to defend the title against? That’s not my decision. That’s the UFC’s job.
“My responsibility is simple: Get healthy. Stay fit. Stay ready.”
Ankalaev, coming off a light heavyweight championship loss in his rematch with Alex Pereira, returned to the win column with a fifth-round knockout over Guskov that brought a definitive end to an otherwise dull fight that Ankalaev controlled from start to finish. Unbeaten in 15 of his past 16 fights, Ankalaev has his eye on becoming a two-time champion, but he’s also open to fighting middleweight transplant Paulo Costa.
Pereira is currently out of the mix after vacating the light heavyweight belt to move to the heavyweight division, but Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr.—originally scheduled to fight Ankalaev at UFC Abu Dhabi before withdrawing due to injury—remain relevant contenders. Ulberg has an idea for finding the No. 1 contender at 205 pounds ahead of his return.
“After last night’s fight, here’s my thoughts,” Ulberg wrote. “Ankalaev vs. Jiri. Give them both a full camp. It’s a fight the division deserves, and stylistically it’s one the fans would love to see.
“Costa vs. Rountree. That’s the wild card. High risk, high reward. Someone’s leaving with serious momentum.”
A knee injury of the nature that Ulberg suffered can shelve an athlete for a lengthy period of time, possibly more than a year, but Ulberg has maintained an optimistic mind set when it comes to recovery. Though there’s still no exact timetable for his return, Ulberg is ruling out the remainder of 2026 and expects the timing to work out for him to defend his championship against one of the worthy contenders sometime next year.
“By the time the dust settles… I’ll be ready,” Ulberg wrote. “Whoever earns it. See you in 2027.”
