An injury to former Strikeforce welterweight champion Tarec Saffiedine has resulted in a switch in opponent for Jake Ellenberger that few fans are likely to grumble about.
Ellenberger will now face recent title challenger Robbie Lawler and the fight has been shifted from UFC 172 in April to UFC 173 in May as a result of the switch.
This will be Ellenberger’s first fight in 10 months after losing out by decision in an underwhelming fight with Rory MacDonald at UFC On FOX 8.
Ellenberger still holds an overall 8-3 record in the UFC though and that leaves him currently placed at No.5 on the official UFC welterweight rankings at this moment in time.
Meanwhile, Lawler remains at No.1 on the contenders list after putting in an excellent performance against Johny Hendricks for the vacant title earlier this month before ultimately losing out on the scorecards.
The UFC’s welterweight division is still in a transformational stage in the wake of long-time champion Georges St.Pierre’s absence and an impressive win for either Lawler or Ellenberger in this bout could place them firmly into title contention.
The addition of Lawler Vs Ellenberger does a good job of bolstering UFC 173’s main card which was recently hit hard by the loss of it’s headlining middleweight title fight between Chris Weidman and Lyoto Machida.
A bantamweight title fight between Renan Barao and TJ Dillashaw now fronts the event, with Junior dos Santos Vs Stipe Miocic serving as the co-main event.
UFC 172 still looks like being a solid card too despite losing this welterweight encounter, with Jon Jones Vs Glover Teixeira headlining, while Phil Davis Vs Anthony Johnson and Luke Rockhold Vs Tim Boetsch add value to it’s main card.
