Jake Ellenberger has a new opponent for UFC Fight Night 131 in Utica, New York on June 1st, with Ben Saunders having now stepped in to replace the injured Bryan Barberena.
The 33-year-old Ellenberger has been having an extremely rough time of it in the Octagon over the past few years, losing seven of his last nine fights, which is quite remarkable for a fighter who had won 8 of his first 10 fights in the UFC.
Ellenberger’s last victory was a TKO win over Matt Brown in July of 2016 and since then he’s suffered a first round TKO loss to Jorge Masdvidal and then a tough knockout defeat against Mike Perry a year ago.
Ellenberger has been out of the Octagon since then and will be hoping to come back rejuvenated for his fight with Saunders, who is also coming off back-to-back losses, having been TKO’d by Peter Sobotta last year and then KO’d by Alan Jouban back in February.
In total, Saunders has compiled a 5-3 record during his second stint in the promotion, including notable wins over Court McGee, Jacob Volkmann and Joe Riggs.
Ellenberger Vs Saunders joins a UFC Fight Night 131 card that is expected to be headlined by bantamweight contenders Marlon Moraes and Jimmy Rivera.
