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[Cat--Smasher]

Jake Ellenberger sees room for improvement after edging Jay Hieron out at UFC on FX 5

“I think there are a lot of things I can improve on,” explained Ellenberger in an interview with the UFC after the conclusion of UFC on FX 5, listing off a few specific areas as well. “For me, personally, I have to get a little faster, get my timing a little better and be a little more aggressive.”

In terms of who Ellenberger hopes to test his skills against next, “The Juggernaut” pointed to the opponent he was originally supposed to face before Hieron stepped in as a replacement – Josh Koscheck.

“He is dangerous and a veteran, and I’m up for it,” offered Ellenberger on the match-up.

Jake Ellenberger sees room for improvement after edging Jay Hieron out at UFC on FX 5 : Five Ounces of Pain

[rivethead]

Looking forward to seeing Jay fight again. I thought the fight could have gone either way.

rh

[Fedorlei Gomipierre]

I thought Hieron was a tough stylistic matchup and think that Kos or Pierce would be solid 'next step' matchups, even if they too aren't the best stylistic matchups either. He's an entertaining fighter and is pretty well-rounded and is ever developing.

[AnchorPunch]

Definitely some room for improvement but I'm also impressed by the improvements that Ellenberger makes between fights. He struggles a bit with strikers, especially those with a developed kicking game, but I hope to see him continue to round out his skills.

In some sense he reminds me of Maynard: A very powerful guy with solid wrestling, decent hands, and who I wish I'd see throw more knees and kicks given his explosiveness and quality ground game.

[mmawolverine]

i think jake let the past criticism get to him, the guy that lost to kampman would have finished heiron or atleast had enough to deal with 3 rounds of the thoroughbred and earn a 30-27 ud, they both were so timid it was just the td that made it 29-28, and someone kept wiping their nose over and over and over again instead engaging jake.

honestly i didnt think jake's cardio was bad, just because his round 1 was always rabid and the other to more methodical didnt mean he had be become boring like kos has. bring back the juggernaut

[d-low]

I think what makes Jake so impressive is his ability to just "explode". Only thing, when he does it uses up so much of his energy. He did it against Kampmann and somehow Kampmann survived and ended up finishing him later. I think the Jay Hieron fight he was very hesitant to explode (because of what happened his past two fights Diego and Kampmann, he got tired) thus the reasoning of why his performance wasn't all that great. But he proved to everyone he can go three rounds, so I guess he made a little gain