Carlos Ulberg’s coach responds to Jiri Prochazka’s ‘mercy’ claim

Carlos Ulberg’s coach Eugene Bareman has responded to Jiri Prochazka’s “mercy” claim after UFC 327 defeat.

Ulberg produced a dramatic upset against Prochazka in the opening round of the fight and claimed the vacant light-heavyweight title at Kaseya Center on Saturday.

Ulberg’s victory came under extraordinary circumstances, as he appeared to suffer a serious knee injury early in the bout.

The 35-year-old struggled to maintain his footing and stumbled repeatedly after an awkward landing damaged his right knee.

Many criticised the former champion for not capitalising on clearly being in a very advantageous position.

Following the match, Prochazka called for a rematch and said he showed his foe mercy inside the Octagon.

Now Ulberg’s coach Bareman has reacted to Jiri’s claim, saying he is allowed to make excuses because fighters usually do that.

“I’ll give it to him. Fighters are allowed to make up whatever they can to get themselves back on the horse, you know what I mean? 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,” he told Submission Radio.

“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.”

Bareman admitted that he was confused when Ulberg got injured, while his fellow coaches were composed.

He added that injury may have played into their favour by putting pressure on Prochazka to go for the kill, which made him commit a mistake.

“If you showed mercy then you made a huge mistake, that’s all I’m saying,” Bareman 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.”