However, the event’s preliminary card has suffered a setback, as DaMarques Johnson and Mackens Semerzier have both withdrawn due to injuries. Johnson has already been replaced by returning TUF 11 vet Seth Baczynski. UFC Fight Night 25’s current lineup is after the jump…
However, the event’s preliminary card has suffered a setback, as DaMarques Johnson and Mackens Semerzier have both withdrawn due to injuries. Johnson has already been replaced by returning TUF 11 vet Seth Baczynski. UFC Fight Night 25′s current lineup is after the jump…
Main Card
Jake Shields vs. Jake Ellenberger
Court McGee vs. Dongi Yang
Jonathan Brookins vs. Erik Koch
Alan Belcher vs. Jason MacDonald
Preliminary Card
Cody McKenzie vs. Vagner Rocha
Evan Dunham vs. Shamar Bailey
Matt Riddle vs. Lance Benoist
Ken Stone vs. Donny Walker
Seth Baczynski vs. Clay Harvison
Daniel Roberts vs. TJ Waldburger
Justin Edwards vs. Jorge Lopez
“From this day forward, any [main event] that is signed after right now today will be a five-round fight.” — Dana White, 6/9/11
The main event for UFC Fight Night in New Orleans on September 17 has been verbally agreed to as Jake Shields takes on Jake “The Juggernaut” Ellenberger…”Ellenberger is on a mission to get his first shot at a world title, and Shields is determined to get another crack at it,” said UFC President Dana White. The televised bout is scheduled for three rounds. — UFC.com, 6/29/11
And so, the UFC’s new five-round non-title fight rule is immediately ignored. Considering that Shields’s recent bouts haven’t all been barn-burners, you have to wonder if the UFC’s decision to make this a three-rounder was some calculated hedging against a boring match. After all, nothing kills a good party like 25 minutes of stalling.
“UFC Fight Night: Battle on the Bayou” (aka UFC Fight Night 25) goes down 9/17 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
“From this day forward, any [main event] that is signed after right now today will be a five-round fight.” — Dana White, 6/9/11
The main event for UFC Fight Night in New Orleans on September 17 has been verbally agreed to as Jake Shields takes on Jake “The Juggernaut” Ellenberger…”Ellenberger is on a mission to get his first shot at a world title, and Shields is determined to get another crack at it,” said UFC President Dana White. The televised bout is scheduled for three rounds. — UFC.com, 6/29/11
And so, the UFC’s new five-round non-title fight rule is immediately ignored. Considering that Shields’s recent bouts haven’t all been barn-burners, you have to wonder if the UFC’s decision to make this a three-rounder was some calculated hedging against a boring match. After all, nothing kills a good party like 25 minutes of stalling.
“UFC Fight Night: Battle on the Bayou” (aka UFC Fight Night 25) goes down 9/17 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Filed under: UFCA pair of Jakes will battle on the bayou in September.
MMA Fighting was first to report Sunday a planned fall welterweight fight between former title challenger Jake Shields and surging contender Jake Ellenberger. Tuesday, UFC officia…
Despite some reports to the contrary, a UFC official on Tuesday told MMA Fighting that the fight will be a three-round main event, not five rounds. Earlier this month at UFC 131, UFC president Dana White announced that all main events in the UFC would be five-round fights, including non-title fights. It was not immediately clear why Shields-Ellenberger will be a three-round main event.
Shields (26-5-1, 1-1 UFC) is coming off his first loss in in six and a half years, a unanimous decision setback to welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 129 in April. Ellenberger (25-5, 4-1 UFC) fought on the same card, knocking out Sean Pierson in the first round for his fourth straight victory.
Fight Night 25 will be the UFC’s first trip to New Orleans in more than a decade. In April, the promotion announced a renewed sponsorship deal with Bud Light, and as part of the deal the two companies will produce an annual live event.
The first joint venture, “Battle on the Bayou,” will take place at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and is expected to include fan expo-like events, a concert tie-in and meet-and-greets with Zuffa fighters. As with all UFC Fight Night cards, Fight Night 25’s main card will air live on Spike TV.
The UFC has held three shows in New Orleans, all prior to Zuffa’s purchase of the company in 2001. The last UFC show in Louisiana was UFC 37 in May 2002 in Bossier City, near Shreveport. Several UFC fighters hail from the New Orleans area, most notably Pat Barry, Melvin Guillard and Alan Belcher, who trains in nearby Biloxi, Miss.
Belcher is expected to fight on the card in a middleweight bout against Jason MacDonald. Also confirmed by the UFC for the card is a middleweight bout between Season 11 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” Court McGee and Dongi Yang and a featherweight bout between Season 12 TUF winner Jonathan Brookins and Erik Koch.
(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.”
(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.
Filed under: UFC, NewsFollowing his unanimous decision UFC welterweight title loss in April, Jake Shields likely will next face surging 170-pounder Jake Ellenberger.
Though the fight has not yet been made official by the UFC, sources close to the bou…
Following his unanimous decision UFC welterweight title loss in April, Jake Shields likely will next face surging 170-pounder Jake Ellenberger.
Though the fight has not yet been made official by the UFC, sources close to the bout confirmed to MMA Fighting last week that the fighters have agreed to the planned matchup for this fall.
While a location for the fight is not yet certain, one possibility is the UFC’s planned Nov. 19 card in San Jose, Calif. That will be the promotion’s debut in the northern California city, about 40 miles south of the San Francisco Bay area, where Shields lives and trains. That event is likely to be UFC 138, though it has not yet been made official by the UFC.
It’s a fight that Ellenberger hasn’t been shy about asking for. In May, he told several news outlets he wanted to fight Shields, and believed he has what it takes to beat him.
Shields (26-5-1, 1-1 UFC) lost for the first time in six and a half years and saw his 15-fight winning streak snapped against St-Pierre. Ellenberger (25-5, 4-1 UFC) has won four straight, including a first-round knockout of Sean Pierson at UFC 129.
Shields 15-fight streak included wins over Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit, Paul Daley, Robbie Lawler, Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Dan Henderson – yet Shields flew under many mainstream MMA radars until he signed with the UFC in the fall of 2010.
Shields, the former Strikeforce middleweight champion, challenged UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre at UFC 129 in April after just one fight in the promotion. Opinions on the fight ranged from dominance by St-Pierre (one judge scored the fight 50-45) to the champ just barely getting by (two judges scored it 48-47).
Ellenberger (25-5, 4-1 UFC) has won four straight – three by KO or TKO. At UFC 129, he knocked out Sean Pierson in the first round. Ellenberger took that fight on less than three weeks notice, filling in for an injured Brian Foster.
Ellenberger has a strong wrestling background and is an assistant wrestling coach for the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Before signing with the UFC in 2009, Ellenberger fought for Bellator, M-1, IFL and Bodog, among other regional promotions.
(Does this look like a dude who should be deprived of what he wants? Pic: Sherdog)
As avid readers of our keen, in-depth statistical analysis, we know that you know that we know that Jake Ellenberger is currently riding a four-fight win-streak in the UFC. After going to Toronto and knocking out short-notice opponent Sean Pierson (just like we told you he would) last month Ellenberger remains undefeated since his split decision loss to Carlos Condit in his Octagon debut (a fight he appeared to be on his way to winning before gassing out) way back in September, 2009. Now that he’s home in Nebraska rehabbing the hand he broke on Pierson’s face, Ellenberger is going back to basics, returning to a strategy he adopted some months ago: Trying to trash-talk his way into a fight with Jake Shields.
Except here’s the difference: If not for that original loss to Condit at UFN 19, people might just be talking about a 5-0 (in the UFC) Jake Ellenberger as a potential top candidate to get a welterweight title shot one of these days soon. So now that Ellenberger is soaring and the Shields hype-wagon has been slowed a bit by his do-nothing performance against Georges St. Pierre at UFC 129, maybe this booking wouldn’t seem so crazy. Hmmmm?
(Does this look like a dude who should be deprived of what he wants? Pic: Sherdog)
As avid readers of our keen, in-depth statistical analysis, we know that you know that we know that Jake Ellenberger is currently riding a four-fight win-streak in the UFC. After going to Toronto and knocking out short-notice opponent Sean Pierson (just like we told you he would) last month Ellenberger remains undefeated since his split decision loss to Carlos Condit in his Octagon debut (a fight he appeared to be on his way to winning before gassing out) way back in September, 2009. Now that he’s home in Nebraska rehabbing the hand he broke on Pierson’s face, Ellenberger is going back to basics, returning to a strategy he adopted some months ago: Trying to trash-talk his way into a fight with Jake Shields.
Except here’s the difference: If not for that original loss to Condit at UFN 19, people might just be talking about a 5-0 (in the UFC) Jake Ellenberger as a potential top candidate to get a welterweight title shot one of these days soon. So now that Ellenberger is soaring and the Shields hype-wagon has been slowed a bit by his do-nothing performance against Georges St. Pierre at UFC 129, maybe this booking wouldn’t seem so crazy. Hmmmm?
In fact, Ellenberger strikes us as sort of a perfect opponent for Shields at this point. Shields has long been considered one of the top welterweights (and maybe one of the top middleweights) on the planet, but before coming to the UFC he spent the last couple of years feasting on lesser competition in Strikeforce. Since his arrival in the Octagon, he frankly hasn’t seemed all that spectacular. Meanwhile, Ellenberger has been steadily climbing the ranks. We’re seeing a classic litmus-test situation for both fighters here.
As for Shields’ recent loss to GSP, Ellenberger tells Sherdog.com this week that he hasn’t even watched it yet. He says he will, but it sounds like he’ll do it more out of professional obligation than anything else.
“Will I watch it? Probably,” he said. “But I bet it’s going to go exactly the way that I thought. 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.”
You may remember that Ellenberger began singling out Shields as far back as November of last year, immediately following the former Strikeforce champ’s underwhelming promotional debut against Martin Kampmann. Ellenberger took his beef with Shields to (we mean, where else) Twitter and bombed away with such gems as: “Jake Shields, you’re as exciting as watching a bowl of mash potatoes get cold …Your days are numbered” and “Jake Shields’ cardio won’t be a factor if he fights me next. I won’t keep him around long enough to get tired.”
It’s too bad the UFC wasn’t offering cash bonuses for creative tweeting last year, are we right? Are we right?
Anyway, instead of giving Ellenberger (then just 2-1 in the UFC) what he wanted, the UFC teased him with a bout against Jon Fitch – only to give Fitch a chance at BJ Penn instead — before ultimately allowing him to whoop up on Carlos Eduardo Rocha and then Pierson (as an injury replacement for Brian Foster). Somewhere in there, Ellenberger reportedly lost his job as an assistant wrestling coach when the University of Nebraska-Omaha announced it would cut that sport while making the jump to Division I. It’s unknown if Ellenberger will be one of the coaches retained as most of the program (including the head coach and many of the athletes) decamps for Maryville University in St. Louis.
Signs point to no, since he’s talking like a guy who’s looking for a big pay day. Either way, it’s pretty clear what he really wants. Now it just remains to be seen if he gets it.
A pair of Jakes will battle on the bayou in September. 
Following his unanimous decision 