UFC light heavyweight champion, Carlos Ulberg (14-1), provided an update this week on when he’ll return to the Octagon.
The 35-year-old overcame a torn ACL to defeat Jiri Prochazka in dramatic fashion, as he came back to knock Jiri out in the first round to capture the belt on April 11. Six days later Ulberg underwent successful surgery. Now he has given an update on his return timeline, stating that he’s rehabbing his leg, but he will need time to heal and will not be able to make his first title defense in 2026.
“It sucks to be on the sidelines … doing my rehab. I’m doing everything to make sure that as the champion, I get myself back on the mats … so that I can come and defend my title early next year.”
Ulberg’s recent run has seen him beat Jan Blachowicz, Dominick Reyes, and Prochazka, and his likely first challenger for the title will be either former champ Magomed Ankalaev (22-2-1), who rebounded from his title loss to Pereira by finishing Bogdan Guskov in July, or Paulo Costa (16-4), who rebounded from his loss to Sean Strickland in 2024 with back-to-back wins against Roman Kopylov on July 19, 2025, and Azamat Murzakanov on April 11, 2026.