Imago
Credits: IMAGO
Imago
Credits: IMAGO
Carlos Ulberg‘s stunning UFC 327 victory already felt like something out of a movie. Fighting through a blown knee and knocking out Jiri Prochazka, the New Zealander stunned everyone in the arena. But as more details begin to surface, it turns out that this wasn’t the only physical difficulty he had to cope with heading into the fight.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
According to his coach, Eugene Bareman, Carlos Ulberg’s camp was also not fully smooth in the lead-up either. Speaking with Ariel Helwani, Bareman revealed that ‘Black Jag’ had been dealing with a staph infection while training, something that temporarily affected his preparation.
“I’m going to just say no,” Bareman said when asked about pre-existing injuries. “But he did have staph. He had a staph infection earlier in the camp, which basically put that leg out of contention for a week or two.”
Top Stories
It’s the kind of detail that adds another layer to what already felt like an improbable performance. ‘Black Jag’ didn’t just enter the fight and get injured; he came in after undergoing a very physically demanding camp.
Coach Eugene Bareman reveals Carlos Ulberg had a staph infection in his right leg prior to UFC 327:
“He got a staph infection earlier in the camp in that leg, which basically put that leg out of contention for a week or two… It’s not related. The staph was lower down on his… pic.twitter.com/0lgoEBPCw1
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 13, 2026
However, coach Bareman was quick to shut down any connection between that staph infection and what unfolded inside the cage.
“No, it’s not related. That’s not related,” he clarified. “The staph was lower down on his knee, and I think that’s all to do with the structure of his knee.”
That distinction is essential, especially given how dramatic the fight actually was. Carlos Ulberg tore his ACL early in the fight, struggling to move as Jiri Prochazka pushed forward. At multiple spots, it looked like he was losing the fight.
But instead of folding, ‘Black Jag’ stayed composed, waited for his opportunity, and executed a perfectly timed left hook to end the bout quickly. It was a finish that flipped the narrative in seconds. ‘Denisa,’ who seemed on course to reclaim the belt, was suddenly out cold.
Carlos Ulberg, barely able to move, was suddenly the champion. In hindsight, the staph infection may not have directly caused the injury, but it contributed to the whole picture of what Ulberg had to overcome.
With a disrupted training camp and a serious knee injury, his path to victory wasn’t just difficult. It was chaotic. And while Jiri Prochazka may claim he lost because he showed his foe mercy inside the Octagon, Carlos Ulberg’s coach is shutting down that narrative.
Team Carlos Ulberg claims Jiri Prochazka is creating his own stories
Jiri Prochazka suggested after the fight that he had shown mercy when he could have finished things—an idea that didn’t go over well with the opposing side. For Eugene Bareman, it wasn’t something to argue against as much as something to understand.
Carlos Ulberg’s coach dismissed it as part of the fight game itself. Fighters, in his opinion, often create their own narratives after a loss in order to reset psychologically and move forward.
“I’ll give it to him; fighters are allowed to make up whatever they can to get themselves back on the horse,” he told Submission Radio. “It’s like do it, say it, make whatever excuses you want, develop a story in your head. My fighters do it. All fighters from all teams do it.
“They make something up, and it’s part of the building blocks to get you to the next stage in your career. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it works against you, so for me, I don’t pay much attention to it.”
At the same time, Eugene Bareman made it clear that such reasoning doesn’t change what happened inside the Octagon. If there was an opportunity to capitalize, it was there—and it passed.
“If you showed mercy, then you made a huge mistake; that’s all I’m saying,” he added. “That’s got nothing to do with us. I would not have expected Carlos to show the same mercy. Not in a world title fight.”
And he’s not wrong there. A world title bout doesn’t leave room for hesitation. In such a position, especially against a compromised opponent like Carlos Ulberg, the expectation isn’t restraint—it’s finish or be finished. Something that Jiri Prochazka clearly failed to realize.
