No sleight of hand: Carlos Ulberg puts away Ihor Potieria with much violence

Carlos Ulberg’s rise in the light heavyweight division continued Saturday with a finish he likely won’t soon forget.

Ulberg (8-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) took out Ihor Potieria (19-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) with a TKO at the 2:09 mark of the opening round. He clipped Potieria with a left hook, then decimated him on the mat for the finish.

Their fight was part of the UFC on ABC 4 main card at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.

Ulberg landed a left hook and Potieria hit the canvas. It took Ulberg a fraction of a second to jump on Potieria with punches. Potieria covered up, and after a few seconds Ulberg walked away – even before the referee waved the fight off.

In essence, Ulberg stopped the fight on his own. By the time he turned around to realize it hadn’t been stopped, the ref knew it was done, too.

Ulberg now has won four straight fights after a loss in his promotional debut.

Check out the finish below:

That’s 4️⃣ straight for Carlos Ulberg.

Who would you like to see him fight next? pic.twitter.com/VGB3AphFDu

— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) May 13, 2023

Up-to-the-minute UFC on ABC 4 results include:

• Carlos Ulberg def. Ihor Potieria via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:09
• Alex Morono def. Tim Means via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 2:09
• Matt Brown def. Court McGee knockout (punch) – Round 1, 4:09
• Karl Williams def. Chase Sherman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Douglas Silva de Andrade def. Cody Stamann via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Mandy Bohm def. Ji Yeon Kim via split decision (28-27, 27-28, 28-27) Round 3, 1:55
• Bryan Battle def. Gabe Green via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:14
• Tainara Lisboa def. Jessica-Rose Clark via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 4:20

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 4.