The main event at UFC on Fuel 1 was Jake Ellenberger’s from the opening bell until about two minutes left in the final round. Fighting before his home crowd, Ellenberger bloodied Sanchez with powerful shots in the standup and ground phases as well as weathered a frenzied last-minute comeback from the always-electric Sanchez to capture a unanimous-decision win.
So what’s next for these two?
The victory (which should earn Fight of the Night honors for the event) leaves little doubt that Ellenberger (27-5, 6-1 UFC) is a certified top contender for the welterweight belt. However, there is more than a little doubt over when, where and against whom the next title bout would happen.
Welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre isn’t scheduled to resume fighting until November, and there are indications that interim belt-holder Carlos Condit’s return will track to GSP’s. After Nick Diaz’s positive drug test nixed a Diaz-Condit rematch, UFC President Dana White said Condit will not fight again between now and St-Pierre. The length of Diaz’s suspension hasn’t yet been announced, but if it’s one year, he could be returning just in time to face the winner. I’m going to go out on a limb and say there would be interest in either option.
It could be well into 2013 before all that dust settles, meaning that even if Ellenberger is the No. 1 contender, he may want (or need) to take another fight (or two) in the meantime. It’s probably something the UFC will push with its top three welterweights already on ice.
If White really is going to keep Condit shelved and in the process and withhold Ellenberger’s rematch with the only man to defeat him in the Octagon, Ellenberger’s obvious next choice is fellow hard hitter Johny Hendricks, who received his contender’s card (and probably a few dozen long-stem roses from White) when he flattened Jon Fitch at UFC 141. Hendricks will face Josh Koscheck at UFC on Fox 3 in May. The winner of that bout (especially if it’s Hendricks) probably presents the stiffest challenge to Ellenbergers’s No. 1 contender status. So here’s your true title-eliminator.
As for Sanchez, he should face the loser of March’s tilt between Martin Kampmann and Thiago Alves. Can you believe Sanchez and Alves have never fought? And if Kampmann loses, it would be a rematch of one of the closest and most exciting welterweight fights in recent memory (a blood-soaked Sanchez won by decision).
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