Brian Ebersole’s Long, Strange Journey to Victory at UFC 127

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse ExclusiveIf you’re one of those people who insist on connecting the dots between every bad thing in the past and every good thing in the present – if you are, in other words, annoyingly positive – then you could say that Bria…

Filed under: ,

If you’re one of those people who insist on connecting the dots between every bad thing in the past and every good thing in the present – if you are, in other words, annoyingly positive – then you could say that Brian Ebersole‘s surprising UFC debut, his upset win over Chris Lytle, and the $75,000 bonus check he received for the ‘Fight of the Night’ would never have happened if not for a street fight between some rowdy college kids more than a decade ago.

Picture Eastern Illinois University, September of 2000. Leaves changing. Hormones raging. All the same college campus crap, just set to a slightly different soundtrack.

Ebersole, a third-year college student on a wrestling squad that features future UFC legend Matt Hughes as one of its assistant coaches, has built something of a reputation for himself as a guy who can fight a little bit when he wants to.