Carlos Ulberg continues his UFC mahi this weekend with Aotearoa's light heavyweight lining up against Tafon Nchukwi on Sunday afternoon's UFC Fight Night. The last time Ulberg fought he snared an impressive decision victory over Fabio Cherant and he is now 1-1 in the UFC, while Nchukwi also entered the UFC through Dana White's Contender series before going 2-2 in the UFC.

This feels like a crucial fight for Ulberg as there has been little insight to gain from his first two UFC fights. Ulberg was solid against Kennedy Nzechukwu in his UFC debut, dipping into the Team City Kickboxing quiver of striking to control that fight from distance before getting a wee bit too excited. Nzechukwu took advantage of Ulberg's eagerness to stand right in front of his opponent and that didn't end well for Ulberg.

Kiwi Carlos Ulberg has just been KO'd in a fight of the night contender! #UFC259 pic.twitter.com/xevsnBHfxQ
— ESPN Australia & NZ (@ESPNAusNZ) March 7, 2021

Earlier his year, Ulberg sealed a dominant win over Fabio Cherant. Ulberg won via decision and again controlled the fight from distance with a wide variety of strikes, while Cherant didn't do much. The key trend of CKB fighters is how all their movements and fakes scatter the plans of opponents, even going as far as freezing them. Ulberg may have been in that zone as he tripled the output of Cherant, or Cherant simply wasn't that good.

Everything suggests that Ulberg could be a monster in the light heavyweight division, yet there have been mixed signals from his two UFC fights so far. Now Ulberg takes on Nchukwi who has two wins via decision, a loss by decision and his most recent fight was a loss via flying knee. Anyone who is coming off a loss via flying knee or has that on their UFC record would be wise to adjust their defence as CKB's fighters are among the best strikers in the world.

Ulberg is a busier and more accurate striker than Nchukwi, also low key more effective with takedowns and takedown defence. Don't expect Ulberg to push for submissions but Ulberg should be able to deal with any takedown attempts from Nchukwi, especially as Ulberg will likely be dictating the fight from distance. Ulberg can then mix in his own takedowns from that striking control which is a niggly skillset to defend.

At some point Ulberg will need to grab wins consistently to take him up the rankings, hence the 1-1 start to his UFC tenure is tricky to assess. Ulberg has the skillset and mindset to rack up wins. Ulberg has also been training during a busy phase for Team CKB with various CKB fighters training together, elevating their mana. Ulberg's fight low key starts the CKB winter wave and while there wasn't much to learn from his first two fights, Ulberg now has a chance to showcase his growth as well as the CKB vibe.

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