Jake Ellenberger Knows He’s Not Done Fighting, Targeting Late August Return
When Jake Ellenberger first appeared in the Ultimate Fighting Championship back in 2009, the then-newcomer nearly took out established welterweight Carlos Condit in his Octagon debut.
“The Juggernaut” was a kind of new breed at the time, a competent if not dangerous striker with a proficient wrestling base. And Ellenberger was knocking people out, cold.
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But the UFC veteran isn’t ready to hang up the gloves just yet, despite dropping another loss recently, this time by first round TKO against Ben Saunders at UFC Fight Night 131 in Upstate New York on June 1 (via MMAJunkie.com):
“In my 12
years of fighting, that was the best preparation leading up to a
fight camp that I’ve ever had. You can’t point any fingers to what
happened. Everything was right, everything was on the money. It was
particularly frustrating for this fight, because moving forward, I
don’t know what’s going to happen. But I know I’m not done
fighting, and I think we have the right recipe.
“If I wake up and I didn’t want to fight or didn’t have that chip on my shoulder or that burning desire – it’s time to move on. That’s an easy question to answer. But there’s some people out there who want to make another paycheck.”
“If I wake up and I didn’t want to fight or didn’t have that chip on my shoulder or that burning desire – it’s time to move on. That’s an easy question to answer. But there’s some people out there who want to make another paycheck.”
The 33-year-old says he plans to continue fighting in spite of the recent losses, and has even targeted an event towards the end of this summer for his return:
“I’m going
to sit down and talk to Dana, and we’ll see. I have no idea what’s
next. We’re talking August (at
UFC Fight Night 135), September maybe. But I can’t give you any
certainty.”
UFC Fight Night 135 will be held in Ellenberger’s native Nebraska on Aug. 25 and will be headlined by Al Iaquinta vs. Justin Gaethje.
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