Carlos Ulberg had caught Anthony Smith's attention long before he suddenly got the call to fight him.
Originally filling in for the injured Khalil Rountree Jr., Ulberg was rushed into the bout to face former champion Jamahal Hill in the co-main event of UFC 303. However, things don't always go to plan, and with Hill withdrawing with a knee injury, Ulberg found himself facing another contender in No. 10-ranked Smith, who was fresh off a submission win at UFC 301.
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With the game being close, Smith said he's been studying Ullberg for several weeks already while helping teammate Hill prepare for Ullberg during the most recent training camp.
“UFC knew I was in training camp so I guess I was the natural next step,” Smith said. Submission Radio“They knew I was ready. They called me and I said 'yes'. It seems sudden, but it's definitely even more sudden for him. I'd already been thinking about Carlos Ulberg for a few weeks, so I was pretty focused on him already so it feels like a normal thing.”
Ulberg is fresh off the biggest win of his career, a 12-second knockout of highly-ranked Alonzo Menifield in May. “The Black Jug” is a perfect 6-0 since losing his UFC debut, and looks to get one step closer to a title shot with a win over Smith.
But the former title challenger is convinced Ulberg has never faced anyone like him.
“He's really good at making me fight guys on my terms,” Smith said of Ulberg, “but with the trajectory of his career so far, I've never fought a top 10 guy. I've never fought a top five guy. To do that and be successful, you have to be able to fight anywhere. And he's really good at making me fight guys wherever he wants to fight. I'm not that type of guy. I'll fight anywhere, and I always have.”
“I'm a full-blown Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. I can wrestle. I can clinch. I can strike. I can fight anywhere. I think that's what I was trying to say. He's never fought anyone at my level who can do it all and be a threat anywhere.”
While Smith is considered a higher level fighter than anyone Ulberg has faced thus far, Ulberg's coach, Eugene Bareman, said a win would change Ulberg's “entire trajectory” at UFC 303. Bareman said that when he originally faced Jamahal Hill, but the same is true against a UFC veteran like Smith.
“I know in sports, a top athlete's career can move along at a mediocre pace, but two or three top athlete decisions made within a few weeks can change the trajectory of their career and their entire life,” Bearman said. New Zealand Herald Last week he said, “Just one or two decisions, just one or two paths, can completely change the entire trajectory of your life and your career…”
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Will the change of pace be too much for Carlos Ulberg, or will the New Zealander prevail over former UFC title challenger Anthony Smith on fight day?
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