Jake Ellenberger

By FCF Staff

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has had a busy time making changes to the line-up for its May 24th card, and the latest will see Jake Ellenberger fight fellow welterweight contender Robbie Lawler.

Ellenberger was originally scheduled to fight Tarec Saffiedine at UFC 172 on April 26th, but the former Strikeforce champ has been forced to withdraw due to an injury. As a result, the promotion has confirmed that Ellenberger and Lawler have verbally agreed to fight at UFC 173, which will be hosted by the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The nature of Saffiedine’s injury was not disclosed.

Lawler (22-10) is coming off a thrilling, unanimous decision loss to Johny Hendricks at UFC 171 earlier this month, which ended the punishing striker’s three fight win streak.

Ellenberger (29-7) hasn’t fought since last July when he lost by unanimous decision to Rory MacDonald. Ellenberger was scheduled to fight Saffiedine in January, but a hamstring injury forced him to withdraw. The welterweight contender is 3-2 in his last 5 fights.