Jake Ellenberger Saves His UFC Life on Saturday Night

Saturday night was crazy, wasn't it? UFC 201 was the unadulterated example of the MMA maelstrom to materialize within the confines of the UFC Octagon.

The case of Jake "The Juggernaut" Ellenberger perfectly summed up July 30th. On a worrying slide in form, Ellenberger had everything to fight for against the tough and wily Matt Brown. Going 1-5 in your last six fights brings its own pressure, but the inevitable questions of your UFC future must be just as distracting.

Said disruptions didn't seem to deter Ellenberger on Saturday night, however. In desperate need of a win, Ellenberger defied all pre-fight expectations by dismantling a more-than-game Brown inside the first round.

As soon as the fight commenced, Ellenberger stormed out of the gate and floored Brown with shocking immediacy. Faking a double jab, the giant overhand right of Ellenberger's sent Brown crashing to the canvas. Brown seemingly shook of the cobwebs from such a punch and his opponent's ensuing crazed ground and pound and began pressuring Ellenberger in return.

UFC color commentator Joe Rogan commented that Ellenberger may have tired himself out with the opening minute of madness. Brown had risen from the ashes and began pressuring Ellenberger against the cage. However, just as Rogan uttered those words, Ellenberger uncorked a bruising liver kick to Brown, which folded his foe like a deck chair. After missing his first chance at finishing his opponent, Ellenberger left nothing to chance this time around and punished Brown, who was left essentially lying in the fetal position as punches rained down.

The Juggernaut of old had returned and silenced his critics, handing the grizzled veteran Brown the first loss of his career to come by way of strikes.

Ahead of the fight, it was hard for the natural cynic to not question whether Ellenberger was deserving of an opponent such as Brown, nor his main card slot, with such a slump in fight form. But, if you were to look at who Ellenberger had fought in that run—Rory McDonald, Kelvin Gastelum, Josh Koscheck, Stephen Thompson, Robbie Lawler and Tarec Saffiedine—the context becomes a little clearer.

Still, it was testament to the all-action style of Ellenberger that he was still on the UFC roster—much like how Dan Hardy survived the UFC's fighter purge despite a slide in form of his own. After Saturday night, Ellenberger has 19 knockout wins to his credit—a staggering 61% rate for someone who has a 31-11 record.

After the fact, it turned out said cynics had a point which the UFC were seemingly on board with. UFC president Dana White confirmed most MMA fans' thoughts and established the promotion were within a whisker of cutting Ellenberger from its bulging roster of fighters.

As transcribed by Luke Thomas of MMA Fighting, White told Fox Sports: "I didn't know what to expect from him," White said. "I said in the standup with [UFC commentator Joe] Rogan before the fights started, if he comes out and does what he's capable of doing, then this is going to be a very fun fight. With the UFC, we had cut him. He flew out to Las Vegas and he met with me and said, 'Don't cut me, please.' He said, 'Give me one more shot. I promise I will come out and deliver.'"

Deliver he did. Not only did Ellenberger get his career back on track, he also won a Performance of the Night bonus in the process.

It was a startling and stirring return to form from the Omaha, Nebraska, native—and White's words add credence to those thoughts as we witnessed Ellenberger's moment in the Octagon on Saturday night.

Ellenberger was uninspiring in his last fight against Saffiedine, but there were some positive signs that night—helped by a change in fight camp.

Once a long-time member of Kings MMA under the tutelage of Chute Boxe legend Rafael Cordeiro, Ellenberger opted to move to pastures new by training under Ronda Rousey's coach Edmond Tarverdyan at Glendale Fighting Club back in 2014. But, that move coincided with Ellenberger's trough in form and he promptly returned to the Los Angeles-based Kings MMA gym ahead of his showdown against Saffiedine.

Seeing Ellenberger embrace Cordeiro after his shocking win on Saturday was enough to warm even the cockles of the coldest of hearts. Here's to a prolonged Ellenberger run in the UFC's shark tank of a welterweight division.