Newly crowned UFC light heavyweight champion Carlos Ulberg has revealed a rather unusual situation: he has misplaced his championship belt. This occurred not during his fight at UFC 327, but during the post-victory celebrations in Miami.
Ulberg secured the vacant light heavyweight title by delivering a spectacular first-round knockout against former champion Jiri Prochazka at the Kaseya Center. Despite an early scare where Ulberg seemed to injure his knee, he turned the tables with a decisive left hand, followed by ground-and-pound to seal the dramatic win.
However, in a strange turn of events, hours after his championship victory, the belt went missing amidst the celebrations in Miami. Ulberg shared in an interview with Fox Sports Australia that he has no clear recollection of its whereabouts.
Admitting the celebratory atmosphere got out of hand, Ulberg explained, “I’ve lost the belt, bro. I don’t know exactly where it is. Initially, after winning, the plan was not to have a drink. But you know how these things go, right? First, someone gives you a champagne to celebrate. Then one thing leads to another, and you’re doing shots. So it’s ‘OK, I’ll have another, and another, and another.'”
The light heavyweight champion isn’t overly concerned, speculating that the belt is likely still at a friend’s apartment where the afterparty continued. “We’ve got a big group of boys over here in Miami and, when the fight was done, we all went out to the afterparty at a nightclub. Then after that, it was back to one of the boys’ apartments and we all hung out there. I didn’t want to be carrying the belt around so I think it’s still there at the apartment somewhere. One of the boys probably has it in bed with him.”
Meanwhile, Paulo Costa, who also secured a significant win on the UFC 327 card by defeating Azamat Murzakanov, humorously commented on Ulberg’s predicament. Costa shared a video of himself congratulating Ulberg and playfully stated, “I met Carlos Ulberg at the hotel lobby. Coincidentally, he lost the belt right after that. I’m Brazilian, but I have not with that. If I find it, I’ll let you know.”
