Jake Ellenberger has seen his stock fall over recent years and knows the pressure to win is growing ahead of UFC 201 Saturday night and his welterweight fight with Matt Brown.
But Ellenberger remains focused on just enjoying the moment as he told MMAjunkie earlier this week.
“Being honest with myself, there’s times where you’re doing it because you have to, not because you want to,” Ellenberger said. “You know, that’s life. I really have been looking forward to training and enjoying it the last four or five months. That’s been a huge momentum boost for me. Especially against a guy like Matt Brown. I couldn’t have got a better fight. He’s a fighter, he moves forward, there’s really no secrets to what he does.
“For me, it’s been a chill week and relaxing. It’s my coming back and wrecking shop weekend.”
Ellenberger (30-11) has gone 9-7 over his 16-fight UFC career, but the 31-year-old is just 1-5 over his last six, including losses to Stephen Thompson, UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler and Kelvin Gastelum via either knockout or submission.