After Alonzo Menifield put away Jimmy Crute with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their UFC 290 rematch in July, he exited the cage and returned to the relative calm of the locker room, where a small group of fellow competitors had gathered to greet him. Carlos Ulberg was among them. As their paths crossed, a small but persistent flame ignited.
“It was more of just a mental agreement,” Ulberg said. “We shook hands in the back. I congratulated him for his fight, and we looked at each other, like, ‘OK, we know we’re going to fight each other eventually.