UFC Macau: Carlos Ulberg beats Volkan Oezdemir by unanimous decision to continue climb up rankings

Carlos Ulberg beat Volkan Oezdemir by unanimous decision in their UFC light heavyweight bout. Photo / Getty Images

Carlos Ulberg continues to climb the UFC rankings.

In his toughest test to date, the Black Jag was too slick for former light heavyweight title contender Volkan Oezdemir, outpointing his Swiss rival to claim a unanimous decision win at the UFC fight night in Macau this morning.

This year hasn’t exactly gone to plan for the 34-year-old in terms of activity, with bouts falling through and injuries forcing him to the sidelines. However, he has made his time inside the UFC octagon count.

In May, he broke into the top-15 rankings for the first time when he beat Alonzo Menifield in just 12 seconds.

This morning, he cemented his place inside the division’s top 10 and put himself in a strong position going into the new year as he eyes an opportunity at Alex Periera’s throne. There are several athletes worthy of the next shot at Periera’s title after his most recent defence against Khalil Rountree Jr [ranked No 8 at the time of the title challenge], but now with a seven-fight winning streak – five of those coming by stoppage – Ulberg can start to make some noise.

In a clash between two powerful strikers, few would have predicted a match-up between Ulberg and Oezdemir would require the judges, and to their credit, both men were trying to keep the scorecards out of it.

But their defence and durability added to what was a tense 15 minutes, Ulberg’s speed and counterstriking proving the difference.

Oezdemir looked to put pressure on Ulberg from the outset, trying to negate the Kiwi’s reach advantage by getting in close. Ulberg was wise to the challenge; light on his feet and moving well, and picking his spots well to counter.

Both fighters landed some good shots, but Ulberg got the better of the action in the opening round, and more of the same followed in the second.

The third round saw Oezdemir try to implement his wrestling – an area of the sport he likely had the advantage over Ulberg in – but the Kiwi was able to fend off his Swiss counterpart’s attempts to take the fight to the mat.

While he couldn’t find the knockout blow, Ulberg earned a hard-fought win, with two of the judges scoring it 30-27 and the other 29-28.

That should see Ulberg move to at least No 8 in the division – where Oezdemir was ranked coming into the fight – with some big bouts now awaiting on the horizon.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.