UFC champion Carlos Ulberg dealt major blow as extent of horrific injury revealed

Carlos Ulberg tore his ACL during his championship win against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 327.

The 35-year-old sent shockwaves through the MMA world when he knocked Prochazka out cold this past weekend to claim the throne at light heavyweight.

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Fans were left gobsmacked at Ulberg’s ability to continue fighting after the New Zealander suffered some sort of injury to his leg during the fight.

Ulberg was left on one leg as time ticked on, but cracked his opponent with a lethal left hook on the back foot to claim glory.

Replays of Ulberg’s injury showed his calf rupture, which led some specialists to believe it was caused by a torn ACL, although nothing had been confirmed at the time.

That is, until now, as esteemed MMA journalist Ariel Helwani has reported Ulberg ‘did in fact tear his ACL’ before knocking out Prochazka.

Ulberg’s team says surgery ‘went really well’

Helwani said Ulberg’s manager, Ash Belcastro, told him the light heavyweight star ‘snapped’ his knee during the fight.

“Ulberg had surgery [on Thursday],” Helwani wrote on X.

“Belcastro says it ‘went really well,’ per his doctors.

“He also experienced bone bruising and tibia damage due to the fact that he was fighting with the torn ACL, per Belcastro.”

Belcastro told Helwani: “He’s dedicated to getting back as soon as he can.”

The UFC light heavyweight division has been notoriously injury-stricken over the last few years.

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Former champions Prochazka and Jamahal Hill were both forced to vacate the title due to injuries in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

The belt was left available to fight for at UFC 327, as Alex Pereira had vacated the belt to move up to the heavyweight division.

Pereira now fights Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title in the co-main event of UFC White House on June 14.

The UFC have favoured big interim title bouts in the past, with Paddy Pimblett fighting Justin Gaethje for the same honour at lightweight in the main event of UFC 324 in January.

With no timeline available as to how long Ulberg will be injured, he may be left with no choice but to vacate the belt just weeks after winning it.

Who could fight for a vacant light heavyweight title?

Prochazka has just welcomed his first child to the world, so it’s unlikely he will get the next shot, on top of the fact that he was brutally knocked out by Ulberg.

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This leaves No. 1-ranked light heavyweight Magomed Ankalaev, who won the belt from Pereira last year before losing it to the Brazilian in a rematch, available to fight for the title.

Ulberg had said post-UFC 327 that Ankalaev is the most worthy to fight for the title next.

But the Russian may find himself up against a top-ranked light heavyweight instead in a fight for the 205lbs belt, such as Jan Blachowicz, Khalil Rountree or Paulo Costa, who ended Azamat Murzakanov’s 16-fight undefeated run at UFC 327.

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