UFC return delayed again for Carlos Ulberg as Alonzo Menifield bout moved to May

Carlos Ulberg is set to return to the UFC octagon on May 12 in St Louis. Photo / Getty Images

When Carlos Ulberg returns to the UFC octagon, he will have spent the best part of six months in a training camp.

The surging Kiwi light heavyweight has had a strange start to his year. After being booked to return in January against Dominick Reyes, the UFC’s No 14-ranked light heavyweight, Ulberg was forced to withdraw from the bout due to injury and it was delayed until the end of March.

However, soon after it was shifted, Reyes was forced to withdraw after being diagnosed with blood clots in his leg. He was replaced by No 12-ranked Alonzo Menifield.

But there was another twist in the tale yet, with the bout between Ulberg and Menifield having to be rescheduled again. It is now slated for the fight night in St Louis on May 12 - almost four months on from the original January 22 fight date.

The ongoing delays add to what is already an intriguing change for Ulberg. The change in opponent saw him go from meeting a southpaw striker in Reyes, who was on a four-fight losing streak (the last three by knockout), to a powerful orthodox puncher in Menifield, who has a serviceable wrestling game and who hasn’t lost in his last five bouts.

In 12 UFC bouts, 36-year-old Menifield holds an 8-3 record with one draw. Of those eight wins, four have come by knockout and two by submission.

The bout will be Ulberg’s first opportunity to break into the rankings after signing with the promotion in late 2020. The 33-year-old has shown considerable improvement since making his UFC debut in 2021 and his most recent submission win over Jung Da-un in Sydney last September showed there’s more in his toolkit than simply being a power puncher.

Menifield is an opponent Ulberg has had his eye on for some time. After his breakout KO win over Nicolae Negumereanu at UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden in late 2022, Ulberg indicated his and Menifield’s paths would likely cross.

“There are a few guys I’m looking out for and there’s some guys who I think would be quite a good fight for me,” Ulberg said.

“Menifield, he’s been knocking out a few guys, he’s got some notable wins, and I think that would be a great match-up.”

While Ulberg’s bout was moved, fellow Kiwi Brad Riddell was forced to withdraw from his booked return on this weekend’s card. The former top-15 ranked lightweight was set to make his first appearance in more than a year, with a bout against Thiago Moises booked for the card in Las Vegas. However, Riddell withdrew for an undisclosed reason.

Riddell’s was one of two other Kiwi UFC bookings to change, with Australian-based heavyweight Justin Tafa stepping in to replace his brother, Junior, against Karl Williams on March 24. It continues a rather bizarre string of events for the Tafa brothers in the UFC.

Justin Tafa was supposed to return to the octagon last month for a bout against No 14-ranked Marcos Rogerio de Lima, but was forced to withdraw a day out from the fight due to a knee injury. Junior Tafa was in Las Vegas to corner his brother and stepped up to take the fight on extremely short notice, but fell to a second-round TKO as de Lima kicks did a number on his lead leg.

That put Junior Tafa’s booking against Williams in doubt, but Justin Tafa being cleared to return meant it would be another case of brother replacing brother.

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