UFC on Fuel TV: Diego Sanchez vs Jake Ellenberger Preview

By Robert Nash

UFC on Fuel tv: Diego Sanchez vs Jake Ellenberger

The UFC debuts on Fuel TV this Wednesday with a fight card taking place in Omaha Nebraska. The event will be headlined by two very experienced and hungry welterweights, as ‘Ultimate Fighter’ season 1 winner and all round veteran Diego ‘the dream’ Sanchez takes on rising star Jake ‘the juggernaut’ Ellenberger with the winner expected to be next in line to take on the winner of the George St. Pierre Carlos Condit fight.


Both fighters have been around a long time, are coming off great wins over top ten opponents and will stop at nothing to prove themselves as the very best in the welterweight division.


Jake Ellenberger is a very strong well rounded fighter with heavy power in his hands. The 26 yr old rising star has fought some of the best including Mike Pyle, Sean Person and lost a closely contested fight against Carlos Condit, a fight that many believed he had won.


But it was really Ellenberger’s victory over Jake Shields back in September that catapulted him into the top five of the division. Shields had just fought for the title against George St. Pierre for a full five rounds and before that was undefeated 6 years. so of course he was a huge favorite in this fight. It took ‘the juggernaut’ just 53 seconds to unload a thundering knee followed by some punches to knock him unconscious earning him knockout of the night bonus.


Ellenberger would love nothing more than to get a rematch at the newly crowned interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit, but he must first get passed an equally hungry lion in Sanchez.


Sanchez is one of the most exciting and seasoned fighters in the sport with his main strength being his outstanding cardio. ‘The dream’ never gets tired in the octagon and can push the tempo like no other fighter which makes him a fan favourite in most of his fights.


Despite such a young age Sanchez has the advantage of been one of the most experienced fighters in the UFC having first competed back in 2005 where he won The Ultimate Fighter season 1, and racked up an impressive 17 fight win streak, defeating the likes of Clay Guida, Nick Diaz and Kenny Florian.


Since his return to the welterweight division he is 2 and 1, and in his last two victories against Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann he put on a real show for the fans and it looked as though the old Sanchez was back. It’s been a rocky road for the UFC veteran once known as ‘The Nightmare’ has re branded himself as ‘The dream’is motivated and believes he is ready to become the feared fighter he once was to do so he will look to end the dream of ‘the juggernaut’.


Ellenberger in my opinion has the advantage in the striking and grappling while Sanchez is more experienced in the level of completion that he has faced and has much better cardio without question. I think although it will be a close fight Ellenberger is on a different level and if he is able to deal with the constant pressure of Sanchez, he will leave the cage with his hand raised.


Other fights on the card


• Heavyweight bout: Stefan Struve vs Dave Herman
• Middleweight bout: Aaron Simpson vs. Ronny Markes
• Heavyweight bout: Stipe Miocic vs. Philip De Fries
• Bantamweight bout: T.J. Dillashaw vs. Walel Watson
• Bantamweight bout: Ivan Menjivar vs John Albert