Jake Ellenberger has lost three-straight inside the UFC’s Octagon at the age of 33, but that doesn’t mean that he’s considering retirement anytime soon.
This past June Ellenberger suffered a first round TKO loss to Ben Saunders, almost a year after being rendered unconscious by Mike Perry with a nasty elbow. Despite the loss, Ellenberger claims that his preparation for his fight against Saunders was one of the best he has ever had (via MMA Junkie):
“In my 12 years of fighting, that was the best preparation leading up to a fight camp that I’ve ever had,” Ellenberger said. “You can’t point any fingers to what happened. Everything was right, everything was on the money. It was particularly frustrating for this fight, because moving forward, I don’t know what’s going to happen.
“But I know I’m not done fighting, and I think we have the right recipe. If I wake up and I didn’t want to fight or didn’t have that chip on my shoulder or that burning desire – it’s time to move on. That’s an easy question to answer. But there’s some people out there who want to make another paycheck.”
As far as how he felt inside the Octagon against Saunders, Ellenberger says he feels as if he’s in peak shape – but one mistake ultimately ended up costing him the fight:
“It was one of those nights where everything was clicking,” Ellenberger said. “Everything was on. I felt great. There was no – people like to point fingers. Hindsight’s always 20/20, but there was nothing that was hindering the preparation leading up to this fight.
“I had six months, five-and-a-half months leading up to the fight. It’s literally one of those things where there’s no room for error. One mistake happens, and it can end the fight. It’s super frustrating, but you have to deal with it.”
The Juggernaut is currently in Las Vegas and plans on meeting with UFC President Dana White soon to discuss his future. If it was up to Ellenberger’s call, he’d return at the UFC Fight Night 135 event in Lincoln, Nebraska – Ellenberger’s home state:
“I’m going to sit down and talk to Dana, and we’ll see,” Ellenberger said. “I have no idea what’s next. We’re talking August (at UFC Fight Night 135), September maybe. But I can’t give you any certainty.”
