Barberena, Ellenberger verbally agree to fight
Bryan Barberena is calling the shots for once.
The 27-year-old welterweight has routinely been thrown into matchups with young fighters that the UFC is looking to push, and while he's still a prospect himself, he thinks it's time for a step up in competition.
Earlier this week, Barberena called for a bout with 43-fight veteran Jake Ellenberger:
Yo @EllenbergerMMA lets throwdown in April 👊🏽@ufc
— BRYAN BARBERENA (@bryan_barberena) February 21, 2017
It sounds like Ellenberger is amenable to the idea as he told FloCombat's Duane Finley via text that Barberena is one of several challengers who he'd be interested in fighting.
"He's like the eighth guy to call me out in the past month but sure," Ellenberger said. "I'm in and it would be a great scrap."
Both men are coming off of losses this past December, with Barberena having dropped a unanimous decision to Colby Covington, and Ellenberger losing in bizarre fashion to Jorge Masvidal when his toe became stuck in the cage and he was unable to remove himself before the referee declared a TKO victory for Masvidal.