After his UFC 129 loss to UFC Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, it wasn’t quite clear what UFC had in mind for Jake Shields. The former Strikeforce champion was dominated in the fight and fell victim to one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters of all time.
Finally, the Cesar Gracie fighter now knows his fate: Shields will face Jake Ellenberger at UFC Fight Night 25, which takes place September 17th from New Orleans, Louisiana and is being deemed as the “Battle on the Bayou”.
Shields was on a five-year winning streak before his loss to GSP at the largest UFC event in history. Ellenberger is 4-1 in his time in the Octagon and has four straight wins since a loss to Carlos Condit, who is now a top contender within the division.
The one and only Sherdog brings us word of this bout becoming official. The event is currently scheduled for September 17, and is being marketed as the “Battle on the Bayou” by Bud Light, one of the UFC’s biggest sponsors. In addition to Shields/Ellenberger, the following fights are rumored to be taking place: Alan Belcher vs. Jason MacDonald, Court McGee vs. Dongi Yang, Jonathan Brookins vs. Erik Koch, and Ken Stone vs. Donny Walker.
A former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion and Elite XC Welterweight Champion, Jake Shields recently had his over five-year win-streak ended by Georges St. Pierre at UFC 129. The event was one of the largest in UFC history, with a staggering 55,000 fans in attendance. During his undefeated run, Shields fought and beat the likes of Martin Kampmann, Jason Miller, Dan Henderson, Robbie Lawler, Paul Daley, Carlos Condit, and Yushin Okami.
Jake Ellenberger has been fighting for over five years and holds a highly respectable record of 25-5. Ellenberger is currently 4-1 in the UFC, with his only loss coming in a close bout against Carlos Condit, who is right now one of the chief contenders to the UFC Welterweight Championship. Since losing to Condit, Ellenberger has racked up four wins with three (T)KO’s.
I think Ellenberger will be an interesting test for Shields, and Shields will probably be the toughest test of Ellenberger’s career. There are two distinct ways I see this fight going.
