(Unfortunately, Ellenberger was fined 10% of his purse for drawing a bunch of dicks on Sean Pierson’s face after he was passed out. Photo courtesy of ESPN)
According to a new report from MMAFighting, UFC welterweight contenders Jake Shields and Jake Ellenberger have agreed to face each other this fall (event TBA). Shields is coming off his unsuccessful title bid against Georges St. Pierre in April — which snapped a 15-fight win streak — while the surging Ellenberger has scored wins in his last four Octagon appearances, including knockouts of Mike Pyle, John Howard, and Sean Pierson.
As you may recall, Ellenberger has been openly campaigning for this matchup ever since Shields’s underwhelming UFC debut against Martin Kampmann last October. Following that fight, Ellenberger harnessed his inner Chael Sonnen, tweeting “Jake Shields, you’re as exciting as watching a bowl of mash potatoes get cold…Your days are numbered…Jake Shields’ cardio won’t be a factor if he fights me next. I won’t keep him around long enough to get tired.”
Ellenberger was similarly unimpressed after UFC 129, saying “If they do make that match and me and Jake get to fight, he’s not a hard guy to figure out. I feel like I can beat him right now.”
Ellenberger certainly doesn’t lack confidence, and a win here would launch him into the title mix at welterweight. Meanwhile, Shields will need a strong performance to prove he was ever worth the hype in the first place. Any early predictions? We don’t have anything else to add about this story right now, so instead, we’ll just post this recent photo of Jason Miller that Ellenberger tweeted last week. Looking good, Mayhem.
