Carlos Ulberg

Carlos Ulberg is the UFC light heavyweight champion, and the rise was faster than anyone outside City Kickboxing predicted. The New Zealander of Samoan-Māori descent turned a rocky one-fight start into one of the longest active win streaks in the division — a run of finishes and increasingly one-sided decisions that ended with gold around his waist.

'Black Jag' fights like a man who trusts his hands completely, because he should: 10 knockouts in 15 wins, delivered with the kind of relaxed, rangy striking that Eugene Bareman's gym has made famous. The jab controls the fight; the right hand ends it.

A former professional kickboxer and model, Ulberg came to MMA late and spent years being underestimated for it. The skepticism aged badly — his last several years read as a systematic dismantling of the 205 rankings.

Now 35 and holding the belt in the sport's most chaotic division, Ulberg faces the light heavyweight tradition: nobody keeps this title long. Champions who hit like he does tend to argue with tradition.