Carlos Ulberg's victory gave Australia and New Zealand their 20th UFC championship win, though officially recorded as 19 because the UFC incorrectly stripped title status from the Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero rematch despite Whittaker making weight. The analysis showed that Australia and New Zealand lead all regions in title victories per capita, with one UFC title win per 1.6 million population, ahead of North America (one per 2.3 million) and well ahead of Russia/CIS (one per 8.3 million) and Western Europe (one per 11.6 million). The region's combat sports success extends beyond MMA to boxing, where fighters like Jay Opetaia, Joseph Parker, George Kambosos, and Tim Tszyu hold or have held world titles. Australia also ranked fourth in the Paris 2024 Olympic medal count with 18 golds despite a population of only 27 million, while New Zealand took 11th place with 10 medals from just 5 million people. Roman Fomin, UFC Performance Institute's director of sports science, identified Australian sports science as among the world's best, credibly explaining the region's outsized athletic success.
