Jake Ellenberger scored a HUGE first round knockout over Jake Shields on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 25 and now has officially warped himself into the welterweight title contender picture. The result of the match was a big surprise to most but I was prepared for what was to come as I predicted in this article “Quick UFC Fight Night Pick – Ellenberger to Destroy Shields?” that Ellenberger would win via first round knockout.
Before this match Shields had only been stopped one time, and that was way back in march, 2000 in his third pro MMA fight. So how did I know Shields was going to get KO’d by Ellenberger? For starters I knew that Shields’ mental game wasn’t going to be fully prepared seeing how he had just lost his dad/manager and he was coming off a title loss to GSP. Second, Ellenberger’s fighting style perfectly omits Shields. Not only can Ellenberger’s defend Shields takedowns with his wrestling and defend Shields BJJ, but he can attack Shields in such a quick and aggressive manner that’s hard to train to defend against. All this was demonstrated Saturday.
What’s Next for Ellenberger?
He will most likely be pitted against the Benn vs Diaz winner. If not then I have a feeling that the UFC will use the loser of the GSP vs Carlos Conduit match as a gate keeper. Whatever happens it’s safe to say that you can’t count out Ellenberger. This kid is on fire and is coming off his 5th straight win in the UFC. There’s a chance that this kid can go all the way and get himself the welterweight belt as soon as next year. I know I am making an early bold prediction but changes in MMA happen quickly do to the ever evolving fighters that make the sport so interesting. Who knows, we might just be looking at the next Jon Jones of the welterweight division.
Follow me on Twitter at @GregRiotMMA for more early bold MMA Predictions
