Jake Ellenberger Says Robbie Lawler’s UFC Return Has Been ‘Overblown’
Jake Ellenberger and Robbie Lawler will meet on the main card of tomorrow’s (May 24) UFC 173, and the stakes are very high for the two top 10 welterweights. With a potential title shot against Johny Hendricks in the balance, ‘The Juggernaut’ and ‘Ruthless’ will likely be fight of the night, at least in my opinion.
Ellenberger is coming back after a few injuries forced him from competing since his 2013 loss to Rory MacDonald, but Lawler’s story has been quite a spectacle to follow. Speaking to MMAFighting.com, it seems that Ellenberger doesn’t quite share the sentiment about ‘Ruthless’:
“I think that’s been a little bit overblown,” Ellenberger said. “You beat a guy like Bobby Voelker, a few guys who were not top 10 guys, he had an impressive win over Koscheck, who also hadn’t had a big win in a really long time. Every fight’s important, but this is the most important fight by far,” Ellenberger said. “I’m getting an opportunity to fight the No. 1 [contender] in the world, it couldn’t be bettter. For me, it’s definitely a pretty big fight. It’s going to get me closer to the gold.”
To say that Lawler’s resurgence in the UFC is overblown seems a little harsh, given that he beat the (technical) number one contender in Rory MacDonald at UFC 167. ‘The Juggernaut’ will undoubtedly face a motivated version of Lawler tomorrow, as ‘Ruthless’ himself recently said he was in the best shape ever.
The 170-pound division certainly has some great fights lined up for the big dogs, but is Ellenberger out of his depth with Lawler? Or do you think ‘Ruthless’ has been overblown as a top contender?
