Carlos Ulberg, the current UFC light heavyweight champion, does not appear in the promotion's latest updated pound-for-pound rankings. This is not unprecedented — historical cases include Jan Blachowicz being left out of the P4P list for two and a half months after winning the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 253, and Aljamain Sterling being removed during a period of inactivity despite holding the bantamweight belt.
Carlos Ulberg's name is missing from the UFC's latest pound-for-pound rankings update, a notable omission given that the New Zealander currently holds the light heavyweight championship.
Ulberg, 35, carries a 15-1-0 professional record and trains out of the renowned City Kickboxing gym. Standing six-foot-four with a 77-inch reach, the "Black Jag" is a physically imposing champion whose striking numbers are among the most impressive in the division. He lands 6.54 significant strikes per minute at a 55 percent accuracy rate — a combination that speaks to both his volume and his precision.
The omission is unusual but not without precedent. The UFC has left sitting champions off its pound-for-pound list before. Jan Blachowicz, the Polish veteran now ranked fifth at light heavyweight with a career record of 29-11-2, went two and a half months without appearing on the P4P list after claiming the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 253. Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling experienced a similar erasure from the rankings during a stretch of inactivity. In both cases, the UFC offered no formal explanation.
Why it matters
- Ulberg is the reigning light heavyweight champion yet receives no P4P recognition in the latest update, raising questions about how the UFC weights title reigns in its rankings criteria.
- The historical parallel with Blachowicz suggests the omission may be temporary rather than a deliberate slight, but the timeline remains unclear.
- The light heavyweight division's profile could be affected if its champion is consistently absent from the promotion's most visible cross-divisional ranking tool.
How long Ulberg remains off the list — and whether the UFC addresses the omission — will be closely watched by the division's contenders, which currently includes Blachowicz at fifth and Ulberg's own divisional ranking listed at third.
