“This whole camp I had to go through a lot of adversity - but anything is possible.”
Those were the words of a passionate Carlos Ulberg, moments after winning his latest fight in the UFC.
Ulberg, who fights out of Auckland’s City Kickboxing, added to the New Zealand contingent’s earlier success with an emphatic win over South Korea’s Da Woon Jung at UFC 293 in Sydney.
It was the featured preliminary bout for a reason, as both fighters slugged it out in front of a frenzied crowd erupting with cheers for the light heavyweights.
But though Ulberg was throwing and landing more blows, and even got a knockdown, Jung showed no signs of slowing down.
The third round was, perhaps, the toughest for the Kiwi. While Jung landed a takedown, Ulberg was quick to get to his feet and return the favour.
The last few moments of the fight ended with Ulberg in dominant fashion, landing blow after blow on top of Jung and trying to sink in a rear-naked choke submission.
Before the decision was officially made, judges watched replays of Jung tapping out in the last few seconds, awarding Ulberg his first UFC submission-win and his fifth-straight victory.
Talking to announcer and former UFC champion Daniel Cormier, Ulberg took the mic to make his first call-out.
“I need someone who’s been in five rounds with the best of all time.
“Dominick Reyes - with all due respect, whenever you feel like you’ve done your thing and you want to get back [into the cage], let’s make it happen.”
Moments ago, City Kickboxing’s Aussie light heavyweight, Tyson Pedro, got the home crowd rocking with an emphatic first-round KO victory over Sweden’s Anton Turklaj.
The City Kickboxing team now have three wins and two losses for the event - with their star fighter up soon.
Along with Ulberg’s and Pedro’s victories, welterweight debutant Kevin Jousset impressed in style with a submission first-round finish earlier today - while Shane Young and Mike ‘Blood Diamond’ Mathetha lost their respective bouts.
Still to come is middleweight champion Israel Adesanya who will defend his title against American Sean Strickland in the main event.
