UFC welterweight division keeps changing
With Jake Ellenberger’s win over Jake Shields on Saturday, the UFC welterweight division has seen another shift. While Georges St. Pierre is obviously still the king of the division, the top contender spots have been constantly shifting. When GSP dominated against Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, and Shields, it was looking like there would be a shortage of contenders. There was a clear #1 and clear #2-4 who had not demonstrated that a rematch with GSP would be any different. If no one was touching Fitch and Alves, who could touch GSP?
Then BJ Penn drew with Fitch, Fitch got injured, Rick Story beat Alves, Charlie Brenneman beat Story, and everyone beat Dan Hardy. With Nick Diaz pushed out of an automatic title shot via stupidity, Carlos Condit has gotten the next shot at GSP. Condit got his shot by beating Ellenberger in a close split decision before going on to win against Rory MacDonald, Hardy, and Dong Hyun Kim. Condit also lost a close split decision to Martin Kampmann in Condit’s UFC debut. Basically, the #2-#15 guys have fought many times against others in the same bracket and this is generating new contenders.
Ellenberger now has 5 wins in a row, with 4 of those wins coming on finishes. By beating Shields, he has beaten an elite welterweight. With Alves, Fitch, Story, Brenneman, and Kampmann also booked, Ellenberger needs another top 10 opponent. Perhaps the winner of BJ Penn and Nick Diaz should fight Ellenberger for a title shot. Diaz was supposed to get a title shot, Penn was in the mix after tying Fitch, and Ellenberger has beaten Shields. Ellenberger would be a fresh face in the title picture and has beaten one of GSP’s recent opponents.
Typically, the lightweight and light heavyweight divisions are considered the most stacked. However, welterweight is arguably just as deep, it’s just that the presence of GSP makes the division look different. Fitch, Shields, Penn, Alves, Josh Koscheck, Ellenberger, Story, Brenneman, Diaz, Condit, Kampmann, Diego Sanchez, Anthony Johnson, MacDonald, DHK…the welterweights are a very deep class.
In any event, Shields is unlikely to do something like this again. We also shouldn’t read too much into Shields losing- his father (who was also his manager) died a few weeks ago, and he remains a world class fighter.
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Feh. It doesn’t matter unless someone beats GSP.