UFC light heavyweight champion Carlos Ulberg says that he is recovering from his torn ACL injury faster than anticipated.
Ulberg tore his ACL in his main event fight against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 327 in Miami. Despite suffering the brutal injury early in the fight, he came back and knocked Prochazka out in shocking fashion to become the new UFC light heavyweight champion. Unfortunately for Ulberg, a post-fight medical exam showed that he, indeed, tore the ACL in his right knee.
Ulberg recently underwent successful surgery to fix the injury in Las Vegas, with the typical recovery timeline for a torn ACL being nine-to-12 months. But the New Zealand native appears to be recovering faster than expected, giving him hope he will be able to return to fighting faster than anticipated.
Carlos Ulberg Optimistic About Injury Recovery
Speaking to the UFC this week while in Las Vegas, Ulberg said he is recovering fast and feeling good just one week after undergoing knee surgery.
“I’m really positive about the progress and the rehab. It’s an ACL. We went into the surgery thinking that this could be between six to eight months or so. Longer for some, but with the progress that we’ve got at the moment, it’s only been a week now and we’re moving pretty good. I think we’ve got a good formula going. The body’s healing really fast. The doctors are happy. The staff are happy. It’s really nice to able to work closely with the PI and get the treatment that I need to,” Ulberg said (Via BJPenn.com).
This all sounds like great news for Ulberg and his fans, but of course, setbacks often happen during recoveries from major injuries, so the UFC will surely not rush him back into action.
UFC Light Heavyweight Division in Holding Pattern
With Ulberg out for likely the rest of 2026, the UFC light heavyweight division is in a holding pattern at the moment. The UFC is unlikely to strip Ulberg of his title since he just won it, but they also need the division to keep on moving along. That’s why the UFC may create an interim belt to be fought for, with potential fights featuring top contenders such as Magomed Ankalaev, Khalil Rountree Jr., Paulo Costa, and possibly even former champion Alex Pereira, should he lose to Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250 and decide to move back down to light heavyweight.
The UFC has been building up Ulberg as a contender for many years, so for him to win the belt only to get injured while doing so was obviously not in the UFC’s plans. Ulberg first joined the UFC in 2021, and he lost his debut in the promotion to Kennedy Nzechukwu in a big upset. But since then, Ulberg hasn’t lost, winning 10 straight fights and becoming a UFC champion. For him to win the belt only to get hurt in the process is a bitter pill for anyone to swallow, but Ulberg can only hope that this will ultimately make him stronger as he continues fighting in his UFC career.
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