The UFC is looking to put on a welterweight clash between Jake Ellenberger and Kelvin Gastelum for November 15th on their UFC 180 event scheduled for Mexico City. The match is a step-up fight for Gastelum, who is starting to get on the radar with a (9-0) record but has never faced anyone with Ellenberger’s ranking or experience.
Ellenberger is 29-8 overall in MMA and though he is just 29 years old, here he is cast as the veteran who is in the way of a rising prospect. Ellenberger used a strong 8-1 run in the UFC to lift his name into a top 5 ranking in the welterweight division , but back to back losses to Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald have him reeling. Ellenberger could use a stand out performance here to get back on the winning track.
Gastelum is at a time in his career where he needs a step up, signature win. His 9-0 record does not include 4 fights on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ reality show, and those 4 fights should not be overlooked because they don’t make the ‘official’ record. Those fights have a UFC contract on the line, and the trappings of the reality show make them all pressure cookers especially compared to that massive Rage in the Cage show he fought in prior. Gastelum is active standing and on the ground, and what is notable in his career, including the tough stint, is that when he does not finish a fight and it goes the distance, he invariably makes it close. He has several Split Decisions under his belt, so he has that intangible that the judges seem to appreciate what he does.
That is a quality that Ellenberger can not afford to test in Gastelum. The book on Ellenberger has changed little over time, and that is that he wil ltypically come out fast and try to finish the fight. If he fails to finish in that rush, he begins to wane and tire, and he has either been finished or he has lost decisions where by the end of the fight the effects of fatigue are showing.
So when it comes to experience, class of opposition, athleticism and overall physical maturity, Ellenberger will be favored in this fight when the line hits. But Gastelum has more than a punchers chance in this one.
