In September of 2009, Jake Ellenberger made his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 19, taking on Carlos Condit at a time where Condit was 0-1 in the UFC and in desperate need of a victory.
Condit was originally set to fight Chris Lytle on the card, but with Lytle bowing out due to injury just a month before the bout, UFC matchmaker went with Ellenberger as a late replacement, much to the disappointment of fans.
An IFL and Bellator veteran, Ellenberger had plenty of experience going into the bout, but as Condit was a former WEC champion and had just fought to a tough decision with contender Martin Kampmann, Ellenberger was written off as a prospect being fed to Condit in order to get “The Natural Born Killer” his first UFC win.
When fight night came around, Ellenberger was officially a fighter with nothing to lose and he came out swinging, knocking down Condit with some extremely heavy hands multiple times in the first round.
With Condit surviving on guts and heart alone in order to just make it out of the first round, Ellenberger was riding high after a dominant first round.
But Condit came back and took the second and third rounds on two of the judges’ score cards, leading to a split decision loss for “The Juggernaut.”
After the loss to Condit, Ellenberger was sent towards the bottom of the welterweight ladder, and after earning four straight wins over Mike Pyle, John Howard, Carlos Eduardo Rocha and Sean Pierson, with all but one of the victories coming by a stoppage.
Ellenberger was ready for another step up in the competition, and he was granted a fight against former Strikeforce champion Jake Shields, who was coming off a title fight against Georges St-Pierre a few months earlier.
Shields was a heavy favorite going into the bout, having not lost a bout in six years prior to the St-Pierre fight. He had the grappling credentials to make life difficult for anyone in the division.
Adding to Shields’ advantage was his iron chin, which had held up under the most extreme circumstances in the past, as he had taken several hard shots from Dan Henderson’s historically destructive right hand and was able to recover and win the fight.
Once again fighting with everything to gain Ellenberger came much like he had against Condit, looking to finish the fight quickly, and this time he succeeded, landing a huge knee to leave Shields seeing stars and following up with punches to secure the biggest win of his career.
This Wednesday night, Ellenberger is set to fight Diego Sanchez in the main event of UFC on Fuel 1. Due to recent shakeups in the welterweight division, an impressive win for Ellenberger could not only get him a shot at the belt, but also a shot at redemption against Condit.
Condit recently won the UFC’s interim belt in a close fight against Nick Diaz, and just last week it was all but certain that Diaz was going to get another shot at the belt, leaving contenders like Ellenberger, Johny Hendricks and Josh Koscheck left in limbo.
But a failed drug test for Diaz has taken that fight off the table, and with Koscheck and Hendricks now set to face each other at UFC on FOX 3 in May, there is only one possible opponent left for Condit to fight if he wants to stay active.
A possible rematch with Condit could now hinge on Ellenberger’s ability to deliver a bout worth mentioning against Diego Sanchez this week. While Sanchez is an extremely tough fighter who could derail all plans for an Ellenberger title opportunity, most expect Ellenberger to be able to come out on top.
If Ellenberger is able to leave his hometown with a victory this Wednesday night, he deserves to be fighting for the welterweight title soon after.
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