Victory wasn’t enough, Ellenberger wants it with Howard again
Jake Ellenberger is rearing to fight the best of his class. However, he believes that his business with John Howard is far from over, And thus, it opens a door for a rematch.
Though his road to success turned out unexpected, the 25-year old Nebraskan native believes that a rematch would make it sweeter.
Suffering from a swollen left eye, Howard was unable to continue the fight due to limited vision. The cage side doctor ruled out this decision for the fighter’s safety, allowing Ellenberger to take a TKO win.
“I got the win, which is nice, obviously, but that's not the way you want to win – having the ref stop it like it was,” said Ellenberger. “I'd love to do it again, he continued.”
The Juggernaut’s victory wasn’t easy though. It took him a couple of strikes and takedowns to deliver Howard to the ground. From the top, he then continued the assault, working more on Howard’s face. As a result, the “Doomsday’s” left eye blew up, limiting his vision.
Holding an over-all MMA record of 23-5, Ellenberger’s UFC record is now 2-1.His lone loss came from Carlos Condit last September when he officially made his UFC debut.
Ellenberger’s first UFC victory happened last February on UFC 108 against Mike “Quicksand” Pyle. The Quicksand wasn’t quick enough when Ellenberger overthrown him with a TKO victory.
In the meantime, Howard gave everything that he’s got during the fight. He wanted to do more stand-up actions, but Ellenberger was more persistent to take the fight on the ground. Obviously, he was disappointed about the decision, yet he still congratulated Ellenberger.
Following his UFC debut last 2009, Howard’s loss over Ellenberger was his first since he made an impressive four-win streak with two KO’s over Daniel Roberts and Dennis Hallman.
According to Ellenberger, takedowns and ground strikes were just his back-up plan – he wanted to take the action with their feet on the ground while exchanging blows.
“I knew he was a powerful striker, so for me, I was going to try and beat him to the punch. I think we both have a lot of power in our hands. For me, it was who gets off first. I don't think he's really been pressured in his past few fights,” said Ellenberger.
“I knew if I had to, I could start taking him down. I tried to see how he would react as far as putting pressure with my hands. He hung in there, and he fired right back,” he continued.
If Ellenberger was more persistent with his initial game plan, then Howard would definitely fend him off.
“He did clip me once and had me a little dazed, but I knew in my head that, 'I've been here before.' I'd been there in training. Mentally, I've got to stay in there, and that's just what I did. I stayed focused. I fought with emotion, and I don't want to let it get the best of me," he said.
Although his second victory was not considered as a remarkable one by the UFC fans, Ellenberger said he will be more firm with his game plans to gain control over his fights.
“I try not to let the crowd play any factor in the fight. For me, I want to just stay persistent, and I like to stay in control of the fight, too. When I fought Condit, it was back and forth, back and forth. Well, I ended up on the short end of that stick,” he explained.
“I'd rather it stay one-sided and keep the fight in my hands,” he added.
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