Welterweights Jake Ellenberger and Jorge Masvidal have a date, as they will square off at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale this December.
Ellenberger (31-11) saved his UFC career with a w…
Welterweights Jake Ellenberger and Jorge Masvidal have a date, as they will square off at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale this December.
Ellenberger (31-11) saved his UFC career with a win over Matt Brown in July. The former contender had lost five of six to that point, but became the first fighter to stop Brown via strikes when he peppered him with shots.
Masvidal (30-11) has been left waiting for an opponent after fights with Kelvin Gastelum and others were switched. “Gamebred” is 2-2 since moving up to welterweight.
The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale takes place December 3 from The Pearl at The Palms Casino in Las Vegas. In the main event, Demetrious Johnson is expected to defend his flyweight title vs. the winner of TUF 24.
Heading into last night’s (July 30, 2016) UFC 201 from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, welterweight veteran Jake “The Juggernaut” Ellenberger was going through quite the rough patch. He had lost five of his last six bouts with three of those losses coming by way of stoppage. It was safe to say that “The […]
Heading into last night’s (July 30, 2016) UFC 201 from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, welterweight veteran Jake “The Juggernaut” Ellenberger was going through quite the rough patch. He had lost five of his last six bouts with three of those losses coming by way of stoppage. It was safe to say that “The Juggernaut” was on his last legs with the promotion last night, and it turns out that he was actually given a second chance.
Speaking on FOX Sports 1 after the event, UFC President Dana White said that the UFC had briefly cut Ellenberger, but that the longtime veteran begged for more chance:
“I didn’t know what to expect from him,” White said. “I said in the standup with [UFC commentator Joe] Rogan before the fights started, if he comes out and does what he’s capable of doing, then this is going to be a very fun fight.”
“With the UFC, we had cut him,” White added. “He flew out to Las Vegas and he met with me and said, ‘Don’t cut me, please.’ He said, ‘Give me one more shot. I promise I will come out and deliver.’”
Ellenberger undoubtedly delivered, as he came out strong in the first and blasted his opponent, No. 9-ranked Matt Brown, with a body kick that dropped “The Immortal”. “The Juggernaut” followed up with a flurry of strikes to end the bout in the very first round. Many had expected Brown to get the job done, but as White stated, Ellenberger showed up:
“We put him against Matt Brown and he came out and delivered,” White said.
Where does “The Juggernaut” go after this victory?
UFC 200 proved to be an amazing event last night (July 30, 2016), and saw a new champion being crowned when it was all said and done in the Phillips Arena from Atlanta. The main event of the evening saw a 170-pound title bout end with a bang after challenger Tyron Woodley landed a haymaker […]
UFC 200 proved to be an amazing event last night (July 30, 2016), and saw a new champion being crowned when it was all said and done in the Phillips Arena from Atlanta. The main event of the evening saw a 170-pound title bout end with a bang after challenger Tyron Woodley landed a haymaker to the chin of the surging now-former welterweight king Robbie Lawler’s chin, sending ‘Ruthless’ crashing to the mat for an early slumber. Woodley’s efforts earned him a $50,000 bonus for the highlight reel finish and ‘Performance of the Night’.
In the co-main event of the evening two of the women’s strawweight division’s elite threw down for the opportunity to take on reigning Polish knockout artist Joanna Jedrzejczyk for a shot at 115-pound glory. Rose Namajunas and Karolina Kowalkiewicz put on a three round war in which both women battled it out with everything they had in front of 10,240 strong, however, in the end it was Kowalkiewicz who would emerge victorious after edging ‘Thug’ in a split decision. Both women would earn $50,000 for their efforts with ‘Fight of the Night’ honors.
Two men who really needed a win coming off losses were Matt Brown and Jake Ellenberger, who met one another on the main card of UFC 201. Ellenberger came right out of the gates with something to prove, and took it to ‘The Imortal’ without wasting any time, dropping him in the process. After briefly recovering Brown would once again be dropped by ‘The Juggernaut’, but this time he wouldn’t be getting up again. Ellenberger was awarded ‘Performance of the Night’ and $50,000 for his dominating performance.
Stay tuned to LowKickMMA for all of your post-fight coverage.
Wow. Anyone else need a cigarette after that? No one would blame you if you did.
Welterweight action fighters Matt Brown and Jake Ellenberger brought some thunder to Atlanta at UFC 201, with Ellenberger coming out on top in an entertaining affair that …
Wow. Anyone else need a cigarette after that? No one would blame you if you did.
Welterweight action fighters Matt Brown and Jake Ellenberger brought some thunder to Atlanta at UFC 201, with Ellenberger coming out on top in an entertaining affair that crammed about as much pandemonium as you could imagine into 1:46.
The fight was crazy from the first punch, with Ellenberger skittering Brown across the octagon with a right hand. Brown defended from the ground before pushing things back to the feet and beginning to land some shots of his own. Looking loose and confident after weathering the initial storm, Brown pressed forward until Ellenberger fired a vicious kick to the body that stopped the Ohio native in his tracks.
From there, Ellenberger followed up with shots on the ground until the ref pulled him off, making the biggest win of his UFC run official. He’d lost five of six coming in and hadn’t won since February 2015, and there was talk on the broadcast of this being his last shot at sticking in the promotion.
It’s a massive result for The Juggernaut, who has been treading water at 170 for some time now with more wins than losses in one of the true shark tank divisions the UFC has on offer. Few people would challenge the contention that Ellenberger is one of the more talented fighters at the weight, however, bouncing around to different training camps and drawing some tough matchups had hampered his progress as of late.
With that in mind, he remains a formidable foe for anyone given his wrestling chops, elite punching power and athleticism. He showed a ferocity against Brown that had been lacking in recent bouts, and he showed it against one of the purest tough guys fighting in the UFC today. To score a vicious knockdown on the first punch of the night, shell up when Brown was coming on in response, then stop him with a perfectly timed, expertly placed liver kick is indicative of a return to the right track buoyed by sharpening the skills he’s always had and evolving new ones as well.
For Brown, it’s a devastating loss that sends him back to the drawing board. He’s 35 years old and has a lifetime of wars both in and out of the cage behind him. He sits near the back of the welterweight top-10 with little evidence supporting the notion that he might climb the mountain once again. Ellenberger might have helped catapult Brown back up the ranks had he won, but the loss almost surely relegates him to fun fights and wild brawls for the rest of his time in the UFC.
Ellenberger will need an equally stout test next time out. The winner of Neil Magny-Lorenz Larkin at UFC 202 might work on that front. Brown could stand to provide some entertainment against Dong Hyun Kim when he returns from injury and should be booked as such.
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.
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.
Wow. Anyone else need a cigarette after that? No one would blame you if you did.