default-output-block.skip-main
National | Carlos Ulberg

What's next for 'Black Jag' and 'The Hangman'?

It was a 2-2 record for New Zealand in New York at UFC 281 last night. Though Brad Riddell lost via submission to Renato Moicano and Israel Adesanya lost his middleweight title bout to former kickboxing opponent Alex Pereira, Carlos Ulberg and Dan Hooker joined the winners' circle.

For "Black Jag" Ulberg, it's the second first-round UFC knockout in a row and his third straight win when he defeated Nicolae Negumereanu to kick off UFC 281. With the jab-left hook combo that knocked down Negumereanu, followed by a flurry of rights that finished him off, Ulberg (Tainui, Te Atiawa, Hāmoa) is happy he got the job done.


Ulberg continues his winning ways! Credit: YouTube / ESPNMMA.

"If you get a win like that it's a perfect fight. Again, to have a bit of a test to go into the second or third round would've been good but to put him away early was good as well."

'I'm back'


"I make nails look soft" - Hooker gives a passionate post-fight IV. Credit: YouTube / UFC.

Hooker’s second-round TKO win over Claudio Puelles was more exhilarating for the Ngāti Maniapoto fighter. Not only was it his first fight since March having to travel to the United Kingdom with a small team but also last night’s fight was backed by a whole army of supporters from his City Kickboxing gym.

With coach Eugene Bareman and company pushing his fighters hard during training camp, Hooker said he appreciated being taken to his limits and more.

“For me, having been away from them for all of [the last three] fights, I just appreciated having them there so much, pushing us and saying ‘you’re rubbish, go harder’ – I actually loved it.

“It’s a weird place to be to absolutely love being pushed that hard.

“It was good to get out there and prove to everyone that I’m back, to prove what I’m capable of when I’m surrounded by my coaches and team,” he says.

The training camp in preparation for his match at Madison Square Garden, going up against a submission specialist in Puelles, paid off with his first victory since September last year.

“You run it through camp. He’s tricky, he’s a very tricky 'fulla' with that leg lock. But you just run into a leveller guy – you’re going to have to rip my leg off and make the doctor stop [the match]. I’m not going to tap or look for a way out.”

Hooker vs Moicano?

As for the UFC’s return to Perth next February - with a statement made to anyone wanting to get into the cage with him, Hooker was asked if he’d want to exact revenge for teammate Riddell to go up against Renato Moicano as a potential opponent.

“That sounds good to me. If he wants to fight me in Perth on that day, let’s go, brother.

“Brad’s a big boy, he can get it back. It’s just one of those things, it’s how the night plays out. I’ve been there before – [Riddell] will be back, better than ever.”

Moicano himself said he'd be game for the fight but only if it was in his home of Brazil, which is due to host the UFC in January.

"I feel like I deserve to fight on the first card back down my ways. I said that absolutely anyone that wants to come on and fight on that date."

There is potential for more New Zealand fighters to get on the Perth card. Flyweight Kai Kara-France (Ngāti Kahungunu) wants to keep his journey to the gold going, Ulberg could be part of the show and a return in Shane Young could also happen.