After jumping back and forth from the prospect repute to ‘he’s just not on that level’ status at light heavyweight, Kennedy Nzechukwu has decided to move up to heavyweight. And, you know, being a 6-foot-5 athletic unit and having some previous troubles with the 40-pound (YES, 40-POUND!) cut to 205, it was probably a right choice to make for Kennedy coming off two straight losses at light heavyweight division. Picking up a finish victory over Chris Barnett at UFC 308 in October, ‘African Savage’ is ready to get his second heavyweight win less than two months later, at the December UFC 310.
Looking at Kennedy’s best win to date, it came in March 2021, at UFC 259, against the current number 7 light heavyweight contender Carlos ‘Black Jag’ Ulberg. Looking ahead, the battle would get the ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus and all the praise from the MMA world along with it.
Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Carlos Ulberg
Ulberg starts off strong, throwing the kitchen sink at the African, who is notorious for taking some time to get into every fight. Less than a minute in, and Nzechukwu is on the verge of being out, while Ulberg continues to rain kicks and punches. An attempt to wrestle after catching the New Zealander’s head kick doesn’t land for Nzechukwu. By one and a half minutes into the bout mark, Carlos has landed 21 significant strikes to Kennedy’s zero.
‘African Savage’ beginning to come out of his defensive shell and land, as Ulberg slows down significantly and the pace of the fight drops. Still, even exhausted, Carlos is clearly ahead and trying to get the job done, while Kennedy turns the offence up only by the end of the first segment.
Seemingly recovered, Ulberg opens the second round smarter, not putting that much force into every shot he throws. Meanwhile, Nzechukwu is marching forward with his guard up, frustrating the New Zealander. Even after an eye poke (maybe two) from Ulberg, it takes around 20 second for Kennedy to get back in there. Momentarily, Nzechukwu has Ulberg against the cage and with his hands way, way lower than they should be when you are fighting an 83-inch reach knockout artist. The African just eats another combo from Ulberg like it’s a mint and answers with a monstrous right hook of his own, which finishes City Kickboxing representative for good.
Post fight
Kennedy won his next fight against Danilo Marques, yet lost two after that to Da Woon Jung and Nicolae Negumereanu. ‘African Savage’ then beat three guys in a row: Karl Roberson, Ion Cutelaba and Devin Clark; he got knocked out in an attempt to get into the rankings opposing former Glory kickboxer Dustin Jacoby and lost a close split decision to crafty Ovince St. Preux before moving up and getting the finish against Chris Barnett.
Ulberg, on the other hand, went 7-0 since their matchup with Nzechukwu in 2021. Interestingly enough, besides the well-known names on Carlos’ resume in Volkan Oezdemir and Alonzo Menifield, the New Zealander also defeated Da Woon Jung and Nicolae Negumereanu, who both have wins over Kennedy Nzechukwu.
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