In keeping with the fight game’s warped sense of humor, Jake Ellenberger’s upcoming fight with Bryan Barberena checks a lot of boxes. Here is a longtime welterweight staple returning home to Nebraska on Aug. 25 for the first time in nearly six years, to face the very man that retired his twin brother, Joe, back in 2014. Perhaps that wouldn’t seem as twisted if Ellenberger himself — who has fought in the UFC since 2009 — weren’t battling for his roster spot, or trying to preserve the last glowing embers that made up “The Juggernaut.
Jake Ellenberger embracing do-or-die set-up for his return home
