UFC 111: Jake Ellenberger Excited To Fight and Ready For the Spotlight

The words "young," "talented," "tenacious," and "experienced" all have one thing in common—they describe UFC welterweight Jake Ellenberger.

At UFC 111 Ellenberger is set to take center stage—filling in for the injured Martin Kampmann—against talented and hungry TUF alum, Ben Saunders.

“I was real excited,” Ellenberger told Bleacher Report when asked how he felt after he got the call to fill in from the UFC. “After the fight with Mike Pyle I was healthy and injury-free so I didn’t have anything that would make me take more time off.

“I thought it was a huge opportunity for me to take another step closer to what I’m working for; making the top 10 and working my way up the welterweight division.”

In many cases most fighters are hesitant to take a fight on short notice, but doing so is nothing new to Ellenberger. In his UFC debut, Ellenberger was called upon to take on former WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit on less than a month’s notice.

Even though Ellenberger did not have ideal time to prepare for such a dangerous opponent, he gave Condit all he could handle, ultimately losing a split decision...a decision Ellenberger believes would be different a second time around with more time to train.

“Carlos (Condit) is a great fighter. He’s technical and he’s with a good camp. I took that fight on about three or four weeks’ notice so with more time I could focus more on getting in shape and game planning.

“I would pretty much fight Carlos the same way except I would probably try to pass his guard more, keep more pressure on him, and not give him any chances to come to like he did.”

Now, Ellenberger has an opportunity to face a very similar and very dangerous opponent in Ben Saunders; an opponent who is coming off an impressive first round KO victory.

Saunders even stated in an interview that doing the same thing to Ellenberger is a huge goal for him since Ellenberger has yet to be knocked out in his career.

“I welcome that,” Ellenberger told Bleacher Report. “We are both dangerous. I like to knock guys out and he’s a good striker and has a good clinch. It’s definitely a recipe for an exciting fight.

“But, do I think he’s going to knock me out? I don’t think he’s going to come close to knocking me out. I’m not taking this fight lightly but…I’m just really excited for this fight—more excited for this fight than I have been for any fight.

“I’m just going to get in there and start throwing haymakers (laughs).”

While Ellenberger is very loose and confident heading into this fight he realizes that Saunders’ 4.5” reach advantage will create some problems.

“I’ve been training with guys the same height and taller actually—from 6’3” to 6’5”—since I took the fight. His length is definitely an issue but it’s not enough to make me uncomfortable. I want to get inside on him and work my strikes.

“I welcome his clinch. I’m not going to fight him on the outside. I want to stay in and work my shots. I’m definitely ready to fight a guy his size and height.”

This fight may not be carrying the same weight as the Georges St. Pierre-Dan Hardy title fight or the potential number one contender fight between Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves but rest assured there will be plenty on the line when Jake Ellenberger steps into the cage with Ben Saunders at UFC 111.

“I think the winner of this fight will be pretty close to the top 10; not in there, but close. Ben Saunders is right there. He’s had a couple big wins here; the last one was Marcus Davis.

“By me beating him it’s going to put me more in the spotlight in the division and the UFC will take it from there.”