Carlos Ulberg enters the octagon before his unanimous decision over Fabio Cherant at UFC 271 in Texas Photo: Photosport
The 'Black Jag' is patiently awaiting his next prey.
Kiwi UFC light-heavyweight Carlos Ulberg is riding a wave of momentum and is keen to carry it all the way to a title shot.
The reigning king of his division just happens to be the most terrifying fighter in the UFC.
However, Ulberg said he does not fear Alex 'Poatan' Pereira.
"He's the boogeyman for everyone else, but not me. I'm the boogeyman for him," Ulberg told RNZ.
Ulberg has won his past six bouts in the octagon, finishing five of his past opponents.
"I know how much I have confidence in myself, and where the holes that I see that he has, and I would definitely use that to my advantage."
The 33-year-old said he respected the rapid rise of Pereira, who became a two-division champ within two years of his UFC debut.
"He's a good fighter. I like his style, his persona, the way he carries himself inside and outside the octagon. He's probably the ultimate fight for me, whether he's got the title or not. That's a big fight for me."
It has been a turbulent time for Ulberg since his submission win over Da Un Jung at UFC 293 in Sydney with a messy string of injuries causing chaos on several cards.
Initially scheduled to fight former title challenger Dominick Reyes, Ulberg was forced to pull out of the January bout with Reyes then pulling out of the rescheduled bout in March due to injuries.
Then set to fight Alonzo Menefield as a replacement, that fight was moved to May where Ulberg earned a spectacular 12-second knockout.
Another shake up came ahead of UFC 303, with Ulberg stepping up to replace Khahil Roundtree and fight former champion Jahmal Hill.
Hill was replaced by Anthony Smith, with Ulberg then taken off the card as again, injury curtailed his plans.
He hurt his shoulder prior to the Menefield massacre, with the quick turnaround further aggravating it.
Carlos Ulberg (L) throws a punch at Fabio Cherant (R) enroute to a unanimous decision victory at UFC 271 in Houston, Texas. Photo: PhotoSport
"When they called in for me to fight right after, I went straight into training because it was a good opportunity and injured it further, I mean that those things happen. My physios recommended that I stay out a bit longer to look after it and hopefully get it healed to a point where I can do a bit more training."
But Ulberg has not let the whirlwind cloud his goals, eyeing another win to close out 2024.
"Momentum is the key for sure. I don't want to be staying away from the from the mats for too long. If I can get one by the end of the year, someone in that top five, that would be beautiful."
Though a shot at Poatan this year is unlikely, as Ulberg is all too aware, anything can happen in the UFC.
"Especially in this heavyweight division, an exciting division where guys are coming in and out, there's so much potential. They had someone who's number eight, now fighting for the title. I'm sitting at number 10 and I could get another fight by the end of the year, and that could also put me in in contention."
While he was hoping to feature in Perth, Ulberg said UFC 305 was a huge night for both City Kickboxing and New Zealand MMA.
"It was a very good night for us. A very good fight week. We had a whole team out there. So it was good to roll in with the big team entourage. It's really good for New Zealand, it's rising quite rapidly and will be for the next couple years."
Teammate Dan Hooker picked up a huge win over Mateusz Gamrot, then preceded to call out everyone from Conor McGregor to BMF champion Max Holloway a belt, a title that Ulberg believes would be appropriate for the Hangman.
"He is the BMF in a lot of people's eyes."
Kai Kara-France also put himself back in flyweight title contention with an emphatic round one knockout of local hero Steve Erceg.
"There was a lot of talk behind Kai having a fight for the title pretty soon and who knows, that could happen sooner than later."
Despite being unable to complete the hat-trick for CKB, Ulberg is quick to remind doubters to never rule out Israel Adesanya.
'The Last Stylebender' was submitted in his grudge match against Dricus Du Plessis, his second consecutive loss for the middleweight strap.
"The UFC love him. He's exciting. He draws a lot of people in to watch him, it's never over for Izzy."
Ulberg is hopeful to see the UFC return to New Zealand for the first time since 2014.
"We're hoping for that, for a big card to drop in New Zealand the next year or so, that's something that I foresee. I haven't fought in New Zealand in the UFC just yet, but I can see that happening for sure."
