UFC on FX 5: Ellenberger vs. Hieron

Jake Ellenberger (27-6) vs. Jay Hieron (23-5)

Two American welterweights will come to blows on UFC on FX 5’s main card when Jake Ellenberger and Jay Hieron step into the Octagon.

Ellenberger is coming off a loss via KO to Martin Kampmann, snapping a six-fight winning streak that saw him catapult to the top of the welterweight class. That streak included four knockouts over Mike Pyle, John Howard, Sean Pierson and Jake Shields. Hieron owns a solid career record (23-5), but has never fought against top competition. This will be his third career bout for UFC and he is looking for his first win. One of his two losses was to a young Georges St-Pierre in 2004, a first-round TKO. Although Hieron is a veteran that will surely put up an entertaining fight in this one, he has displayed no evidence that he can come up with a big upset in a fight like this, having never beaten or even had a real shot against a top contender like this. Take the heavy favorite ELLENBERGER as he uses this one as a tune-up for bigger fights down the road.

Of Ellenberger’s 27 career wins, 17 have been knockouts and five more submissions. So, Ellenberger does not mess around when he steps into the ring, which could bode well against Hieron, who has lost three of his five career bouts via knockout. The 27-year-old Ellenberger is a talented boxer and wrestler, but he is most known for his legendary iron chin. Especially going against a fighter like Hieron whose best shot at an upset is a surprise TKO, having the chin to sustain big blows makes him a more reassuring play as the heavy chalk.

The 36-year-old Hieron is also a wrestler and boxer, though takedowns play a larger part in his attack than in Ellenberger’s. Unlike Ellenberger, Hieron is fine letting a fight see the final bell. Of his 23 career victories, 10 have been decisions. A decision win will be highly unlikely for Hieron here, however, as Ellenberger has the skill and pedigree to outfight him and easily earn the nod from the judges. It will take a surprise of some sort before that final bell for Hieron to pull off the upset and earn his first UFC win.