Fresh off, his KO in Bellator, Jake Ellenberger is looking to due the same in the UFC. (Photo courtesy of Bellator Fighting Championships)
Jake Ellenberger is making his UFC debut at Ultimate Fight Night 19, but he’s not worried about nerves.
To Ellenberger (21-4): a fight’s a fight and that’s all there is to it.
“Training to fight, you know, you train to fight another person,” said Ellenberger. “To me it’s no different. It’s going to be another fight. A fight’s a fight whether you’ve got 10 people watching or a thousand or a million watching.”
Those steel nerves have served him well in the past as thirteen of his 21 wins have been via knock out or technical knockout, and has only gone to decision three times.
“He [Condit] has a little bit of a reach advantage,” Ellenberger said. “I think I have a lot more power than he does. So I’m definitely looking to go in there and knock him out.”
That is quite the challenge for a guy that has never been knocked out, but for Ellenberger it is those challenges that make this exciting.
His game plan is to go in, use his power, and subdue his opponent and — hopefully — win before the ring of the final bell. To prepare he’s training in Omaha, Neb. and St. Louis, Mo.
“My main training partner is Ryan Jensen,” said Ellenberger. “He’s pretty much the same height and length as far as body style [compared to Condit]. I’ve been training with him for the past four years so I won’t see anything new when I fight Carlos.”
Ellenberger is excited to be on the televised version of the card. Being from Omaha, his friends and family are only a few hours from the Bixby (Okla.) Arena and many are making the trip to watch his newest excursion live.
“It’s exciting for them to be able to watch it live,” Ellenberger said. “It’s definitely cool for friends and family to be able to watch it on TV. That’s a plus.”
Though Ellenberger knows his hard work and determination earned him a spot in the UFC he doesn’t forget to give credit where it’s due.
“My manager, Monte Cox, called me about this opportunity,” Ellenberger said. “He’s the best guy in the business I think. Just because he takes care of his fighters and lets you know when he has opportunities.”
Lucky for Ellenberger, Cox notified him about this opportunity. After four years of fighting professionally the Nebraska-native finally gets to make his debut in the big time, but he won’t let the nerves get to him.
“I’ve had quite a few fights already so there are no nerves coming to the UFC,” said Ellenberger. “To me it’s another big show, another opportunity.”
