When no one knew who he was, Jake Ellenberger was 6-1 in seven UFC bouts. The only loss was a contentious split decision to Carlos Condit, and Ellenberger was seen by most as a dream prospect.
Savage slugging and a wrestling game that was as good as any divisional veteran left people seeing Ellenberger as a guy who could maybe get to the top of the heap. Nasty stoppages of Mike Pyle, Sean Pierson and Jake Shields only fueled that fire.
Then things went south.
Martin Kampmann scorched him, and a few fights later, he lost two in a row to Rory MacDonald and Robbie Lawler despite a violent win over Nate Marquardt and a decent showing against Jay Hieron having split up the three losses.
The three losses in five fights were as many as he’d had in his first 20, and though they came against some of the very best 170-pounders in the world, they still served to stagnate him in one of the toughest divisions in the game.
The pack is a nasty collection of customers, but Ellenberger‘s inability to get over the hump as he enters his prime has caused him to fall firmly back among them.
Now he heads into a bout with Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 180, and he’s looking at a fight where his spot on the fringes of contendership could be up for grabs. A boy from Nebraska should know all about making hay while the sun shines, and since he hasn’t, he may lose his place in his weight class.
It’s crazy to think that a guy still only 29 years old and with so much obvious talent and experience might flame out on the fists of a prospect like Gastelum, one who was 14 when Ellenberger won his first pro bout.
In a world where Matt Brown, Hector Lombard and even Condit are still active, exciting and serving as immediate hurdles to Ellenberger‘s climb up the ladder, he simply can’t afford to lose to Gastelum. People can forgive losses to Lawler and MacDonald, even if they knock you down a few pegs. They can’t forgive a loss to a young prospect, though, at least not if you’re trying to assert that you’re elite.
And so it goes for Ellenberger, ranked No. 7 in the UFC’s official rankings and fixing to throw leather in a dangerous bout against a true upstart at a time when most would say he’s middling. He needs to prove otherwise, but going in, he’s firmly entrenched as a face among many in a crowded second tier of welterweight contenders.
When he was quietly rolling through guys left and right, no one would have seen it this way. Now that the spotlight’s been on him for a while, though, that’s how it’s playing out for The Juggernaut.
Leaving Mexico this weekend, he’ll be looking at a different situation. Win and he’s moving up in the pack; lose and he’s moving down.
If that’s not motivation, it’s hard to imagine what is.
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