UFC ON VERSUS PREVIEW: Jake Ellenberger vs. John Howard

John Howard will meet Jake Ellenberger in a welterweight bout that is set to be featured on the main portion of the UFC on Versus 2 card this Sunday. It will be a chance for the two up and coming welterweights to make an impact in front of a national television audience.

Howard (14-4) is currently undefeated in the UFC, having won his first four fights in the Octagon. He started off by grinding out split decision victories over Chris Wilson and Tamdan McCrory. However, in his last two fights, “Doomsday” has learned how to keep the fight out of the judge’s hands. The Boston, Massachusetts native KO’d Dennis Hallman last December and KO’d late replacement Daniel Roberts in March. Howard was originally scheduled to face Anthony “Rumble” Johnson but a knee injury forced Johnson to withdraw from the fight. While Howard has yet to defeat a “big name” UFC welterweight, a win over a skilled Jake Ellenberger might prompt Joe Silva to feed him an upper echelon fighter next time around.

Ellenberger (22-5) is set to make his third appearance in the UFC. He is (1-1) in the Octagon with a split decision loss to Carlos Condit at UFC Fight Night 19 last September and a TKO victory over Mike Pyle at UFC 108 in January. The Omaha, Nebraska native was set to fight Ben Saunders at UFC 111 but was left opponent-less just days before their scheduled bout. In a weird scenario, Thiago Alves had to pull out of his fight with Jon Fitch because of a failed CT scan. That prompted Saunders to go to Dana White and ask to fight Fitch, who with no disrespect to Ellenberger, is a step up in competition. The switch was made and Saunders ending up getting pummeled by Fitch for three rounds en route to a unanimous decision loss, while Ellenberger watched from the sidelines. Ellenberger, a former Bellator and IFL participant, was still awarded his appearance and win money because of how late the changes were made. Barring an unusual and unforeseen circumstance, Ellenberger will get his chance to fight on August 1st and will try to make the most of it.

UFC on Versus 2 is scheduled for August 1st at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California.

- By Chad Yabuki, MMA News contributor for BJPENN.COM.

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