After a 15-month hiatus, No. 11-ranked welterweight Tarec Saffiedine returned to the Octagon and faced Jake Ellenberger. After a three-round battle that saw Saffiedine rocked a couple of times, his precision and fight IQ earned him a unanimous-decision win.
While the win might not be hugely impressive, this was just Saffiedine's third UFC fight and on the tails of a lengthy break. His division mobility should remain considerable.
Round 1
Ellenberger starts with a combination; Saffiedine counters with a kick. Ellenberger pushes Saffiedine to the cage where they clinch briefly before returning to the middle of the cage. The first round is pretty slow-paced, although Ellenberger lands an elbow that appears to rock Saffiedine. Ellenberger moves in to capitalize, but doesn't accomplish much. If Saffiedine was rocked, he recovered quickly. The round ends with the same slow pace it had throughout.
What a shot by @EllenbergerMMA! https://t.co/L54ZSJVNv3
— #UFCNewJersey (@ufc) January 31, 2016
Round 2
Ellenberger seems more aggressive this round, while Saffiedine is more calculated, sticking with kicks. Ellenberger manages a combination when Saffiedine throws a high kick, but Saffiedine is unfazed. Saffiedine is gradually moving in closer as he attacks, trying to clinch up and take Ellenberger down. But it's Ellenberger who manages a takedown first, although Saffiedine gets right back up as the round ends.
Round 3
Saffiedine opens up with a kick. When Ellenberger comes in with some combinations, Saffiedine lands some punches. Ellenberger gets Saffiedine up against the cage in the clinch and manages a knee to the body before Saffiedine escapes to the center of the cage. After a few exchanges, Ellenberger wings an overhand that Saffiedine ducks, and Ellenberger dives into the cage headfirst.
Ellenberger gets a takedown that results in Saffiedine taking his back. With 30 seconds left, Saffiedine tries to close up a choke but is unable to before Ellenberger gets back to his feet. In the final seconds of the fight, Ellenberger lands a combo that appears to rock Saffiedine, but the bell rings before he can take advantage of it. Bloody Elbow provided an assessment of Saffiedine's fight style, highlighting a key weakness:
That's a problem with Saffiedine's style too. Because he isn't a finisher, he'll always give guys a chance to land something. #UFCNewJersey
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) January 31, 2016
Ellenberger, who is now 1-5 in his last six, has an overall record of 30-11 accrued over almost 11 years. It's possible this loss will result in his getting cut. Either way, with 41 fights under his belt, it seems like Ellenberger's career is probably winding down. In the televised post-fight interview, Ellenberger said, "I don't even know right now. I can't, I'm just disappointed."
Despite being rocked a couple of times in the fight, Saffiedine said it wasn't the result of ring rust. "It's good to be back after a year off. He was a tough opponent, and I couldn't be happier right now. He got me, but I was able to recover really good. It was a quick moment, but I was able to come back.
"I didn't feel too much ring rust. I train hard. I was basically sleeping, eating and training in the gym. I had to get mentally stronger; it was tough."
Tough as it may have been, Saffiedine's regimen seems to have paid off.
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