What do top welterweight contenders Johny Hendricks and Jake Ellenberger have in common?
They have both lost unanimous decisions to Rick Story.
After his vicious first-round knockout win over Quinn Mulhern at UFC 158, Story hopped on Facebook to vent his frustrations with the UFC welterweight division.
He admits to being “pissed” at sitting in the shadows while fighters he’s already defeated get the spotlight.
“I want to fight Jake Ellenberger! It pisses me off that he’s getting all of the accolades when I already beat him. It’s annoying that people keep making the excuse for Jake “well that was earlier in your guy’s career”. OK, even back then he had 3 times the amount of fights that I had.
…The bottom line is I want to be in the position he is in right now and if I have to beat his ass again to get there…… Then Let’s do it!”
Story defeated Ellenberger back in June 2008 at SportFight 23, a smaller show in Portland, Oregon. This was before either fighter made it to the UFC, and both were still working their way through the ranks.
Oddly enough, Story also has a win over Hendricks, who is currently listed as the No. 1 contender to challenge Georges St-Pierre for the UFC title. He is the only person to ever defeat Hendricks, in a bout that occurred a little over two years ago at the TUF 12 Finale.
Hendricks and Ellenberger are both coming off wins at UFC 158.
While Hendricks is already slated for a UFC title shot, Ellenberger is widely considered to be next in line alongside Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia and former Strikeforce welterweight champ Tarec Saffiedine.
There were rumors circulating about the possibility of Maia fighting Rory MacDonald, but another injury setback for the young Canadian may have ruined any potential plans.
If the UFC pairs Maia with Saffiedine, it could make sense to go ahead and do a rematch between Story and Ellenberger. It wasn’t too long ago that Story was knocking on the door for title contention.
Before suffering a string of losses, he was riding a six-fight win streak, including victories over Hendricks, Thiago Alves and Dustin Hazelett.
Should the UFC go ahead and book the rematch, or would it be too far of a step back for Ellenberger to accept his former foe’s offer?
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