The Ultimate Fighting Championship made it official Tuesday evening, welterweights Jake Shields (26-5-1) and Jake “The Juggernaut” Ellenberger (25-5) are to square off in the main event of Septembers UFC Fight Night: Battle on the Bayou (aka UFC Fight Night 25) event.
The main event for UFC Fight Night in New Orleans on September 17 has been verbally agreed to as Jake Shields takes on Jake “The Juggernaut” Ellenberger.
Shields recently took welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre the distance and ended his record streak of consecutive rounds won. The hard-hitting Ellenberger is one of the top prospects in the welterweight division having won eight of his last nine fights.
“Ellenberger is on a mission to get his first shot at a world title, and Shields is determined to get another crack at it,” said UFC President Dana White. The televised bout is scheduled for three rounds.
UFC Fight Night 25 is expected to take place on Sept. 17 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Three other bouts have already been reported for the event including Alan Belcher vs. Jason MacDonald, Dongi Yang vs. Court McGee, and Erik Koch vs. Jonathan Brookins.
Shields suffered his first loss in six-and-a-half years, ending a fifteen fight win streak that saw him earn titles with the Rumble on the Rock, EliteXC, and Strikeforce promotions. The Cesar Gracie fighter lost a unanimous decision to in the headliner of UFC 129 in Toronto last April, losing to champion Georges St-Pierre in their title bout. His fight with Ellenberger will be Shields third bout in the UFC.
‘The Juggernaut’ doesn’t have quite as an impressive run as Shields but has won four straight and is 8-1 in his last nine fights. Ellenberger was last in the Octagon on the same card as Shields last fight in Toronto, stopping Canadian Sean Pierson by first round knockout. The win puts Ellenberger at 4-1 with the UFC after dropping his debut to Carlos Condit at UFC Fight Night 19 in September 2009.