Jake Ellenberger with his hands raised after being awarded a unanimous decision over Diego Sanchez in the UFC on FUEL TV 1 main event

Says Welterweight’s Request for Shot at Carlos Condit “Pisses Me Off”

By Kelsey Mowatt

Due to a six fight win streak, and having defeated the likes of Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez in the process, not too many fans would argue that Jake Ellenberger is within striking distance of a UFC welterweight title shot. After all, Ellenberger has lost just once during his UFC tenure, as the Omaha wrestler’s only defeat was a tightly contested, split decision loss to the man who currently holds the interim belt, Carlos Condit. Following his submission win over former contender Thiago Alves last weekend, however, Martin Kampmann believes he also has inserted himself into the mix, and he’s been calling for a bout with Condit next.

“It kind of pisses me off to be honest; I don’t think he deserves that fight,” Ellenberger (27-5) told FCF, when asked to comment on Kampmann’s request to fight Condit, who he defeated by split decision in April, 2009. “If anything, I think me and Kampmann should fight. I think we should fight and the winner of that gets Condit.”

“I mean, Condit and I had a close, controversial fight, but if anyone’s earned a rematch with him it’s been me,” Ellenberger added. “I’ve had six wins in a row against all high level guys. It’s hard to win two in a row in the UFC. Beating Thiago Alves is a big win, but I’d say, you know what, let’s have me and Martin fight.”

Kampmann (19-5) is coming off wins over Alves and the highly regarded Rick Story, after dropping highly competitive, decision losses to the aforementioned Shields and Sanchez.

“I think I match up great,” said Ellenberger, when asked to evaluate the abilities of Kampmann. “I think I match up great with anybody in my division. Since day one, I think I can beat anyone at 170 in the world. I don’t think you can be successful in this sport if you don’t believe that, and I most certainly do. I think I match-up great with Martin.”

Of course, Condit is reportedly hoping to fight Georges St. Pierre next, if the champion is able to return from knee surgery within a reasonable time frame.

“He’ll probably wait; that’s what I’m assuming,” said Ellenberger, when asked if he’s expecting Condit to remain on the sidelines until GSP returns. “I can’t really control that, and he’s in a really good position to wait, so that’s up to him. I’m just waiting to hear from the UFC as to who is next.”

While Ellenberger certainly furthered his ranking in the welterweight division by defeating Sanchez last month, the former TUF winner pushed the Reign MMA fighter throughout their UFC on FUEL bout. In the end, Ellenberger emerged with the unanimous decision win, but the outcome was rather different from his quick stoppage victories over Shields and Sean Pierson before that.

“You have to keep evolving, keep getting better each fight,” Ellenberger noted. “You make mistakes in every fight and there’s no perfect fight ever. I felt great, but I made a mistake in the third round and he capitalized on that. People were criticizing me, my shape, this and that, but I was in great shape, I could have gone five rounds….I felt good about the fight; I’m ready to move on. That’s all you can do.”

“Quick fights are really rare, they happen once in a while but they’re extremely tough,” Ellenberger added. “I’m always prepared for the worst. Maybe because of those short fights, people thought it set the tone for the next fight, but you’re fighting very high level fighters. Diego’s always been extremely tough and one of the best.”