Carlos Ulberg absent from updated UFC pound-for-pound rankings despite holding title

Carlos Ulberg, the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion, is absent from the promotion's latest pound-for-pound rankings update despite holding the title, a situation that has drawn attention given his status atop the 205-pound division.

Ulberg, nicknamed "Black Jag," carries a 15-1-0 professional record and represents New Zealand out of the renowned City Kickboxing camp. The 35-year-old stands six-foot-four with a 77-inch reach and has established himself as one of the division's most dangerous strikers, landing 6.54 significant strikes per minute at a 55 percent accuracy rate — numbers that rank among the best in the light heavyweight class.

The omission is not without historical precedent. Jan Blachowicz, now 43 and sitting fifth in the divisional rankings with a 29-11-2 record, was similarly kept off the pound-for-pound list for roughly two and a half months after capturing the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 253 in September 2020. Aljamain Sterling faced a comparable situation, removed from the pound-for-pound rankings due to inactivity during his bantamweight title reign in 2021 and 2022.

Why it matters

• Ulberg holds the light heavyweight title yet receives no pound-for-pound recognition in the UFC's latest update, raising questions about the criteria applied to new champions.
• The Blachowicz and Sterling precedents suggest the UFC has occasionally delayed or withheld pound-for-pound placement for champions, particularly those newly crowned or inactive.
• How long Ulberg remains absent from the list may signal how the promotion weighs title tenure and activity when constructing its cross-divisional rankings.