UFN: Battle on the Bayou Preview
In a strange week where a #1 contender in the welterweight division was stripped of his title shot the UFC is finally back to fighting. With Nick Diaz losing his title shot due to a no-show at the press conferences for UFC 137 Carlos Condit earned the fight. With these two fighters at the top for now there are still a number of fighters that are looking to get that shot at one of the best fighters in the world in GSP. With the welterweight division in full focus the Battle on the Bayou fits right in as two of the top welterweight fighters will face off. Former #1 contender and WEC Welterweight champion Jake Shields will take on Jake Ellenberger who has become someone to watch in the UFC. Jake Shields is coming off of his first fight in the UFC but it was not his first time in the octagon as Shields had won the title in every promotion he had been in. He attempted to make this the next promotion as he faced UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 129 in Toronto. Shields was not able to repeat his success against GSP as he lost a decision and his shot to become the next UFC Welterweight Champion. Jake Ellenberger has not had the same success as Shields but has been able to put together some impressive wins in the UFC. With a record of 25-5, Shields is 26-5-1, Ellenberger has had a total of 5 fights in the UFC and has won 4 of the fights with three KOs. Both of these fighters will be looking to get to the top, in Shields’ case back to the top, of the welterweight division as the fighters are lining up to fight GSP for that welterweight division. The fight will determine the top of the welterweight division and will be tough fight for both of these challengers. Jake Shields is one of the best Jiu Jitsu practitioners in the UFC and will look to use this against Ellenberger. One of Shields’ biggest issues in his loss to GSP was the fact that he remained standing for the majority of the fight and did not play to his strengths. Against Ellenberger Shields will not make the same mistake as I would expect him to make many attempts at taking the fight to the ground. It will be a challenge as Ellenberger is a great standup fighter mainly due to his 89% success rate in defending the takedown. Ellenberger has made his living out of keeping the fight standing and knocking out his opponent. If Shields can get the fight on the ground Ellenberger will be in some trouble as he is good enough to hang with some good Jiu Jitsu practitioners but not to the level of Shields. I expect this fight to go the distance with Shields coming out on top by outwrestling Ellenberger.
The rest of the card will feature some great fights including two former “The Ultimate Fighter” winners and a comeback of a former rising star. Alan Belcher was one of the fastest risers in the UFC’s Middleweight division. That was until last year when Belcher was in Brazil training when he woke up unable to see out of his right eye. This derailed his recent success as he had begun to shoot up the rankings in the UFC but was not sure whether he could continue on with his UFC career. Two surgeries and over a year later Belcher makes his return to the UFC but it will not be easy. He will have to face another fighter looking to make his comeback after a successful fight at UFC 129 in Jason MacDonald. It will be a very emotional fight as well as a potential Fight of the Night contender as both of these men are fighting for more than just a paycheck. Rounding out the main card will be Court McGee, who will fight Dongi Yang, and Johnathan Brookins, who will fight Erik Koch. Both of these fighters will be looking to kick-start their UFC careers after winning “The Ultimate Fighter” and earning their UFC contracts. The Battle on the Bayou is shaping up to be a good fight card with plenty of excitement and it is all free.
Fight Card
Main Event:
Jake Shields vs. Jake “The Juggernaut” Ellenberger (Sportsnet/Spike)
Main Card:
Court “The Crusher” McGee vs. Dongi “The Ox” Yang (Sportsnet/Spike)
Jonathan Brookins vs. Erik “New Breed” Koch (Sportsnet/Spike)
Alan “The Talent” Belcher vs. Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald (Sportsnet/Spike)
Undercard:
Cody McKenzie vs. Vagner “Ceara” Rocha (Facebook)
Evan Dunham vs. Shamar Bailey (Facebook)
Matthew Riddle vs. Lance Benoist (Facebook)
Ken Stone vs. Donny “Eagle Eye” Walker (Facebook)
Clay “Heavy Metal” Harvison vs. Seth “Polish Pistola” Baczynski (Facebook)
TJ Waldburger vs. Mike Stumpf (Facebook)
Mike Lullo vs. Robert Peralta (Facebook)
Justin “Fast Eddy” Edwards vs. Jorge Lopez (Facebook)
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