Since Georges St-Pierre vacated his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title in 2013, the promotion has already crowned two different division champions.
Johny Hendricks, followed by current roost ruler Robbie Lawler.
Prior to that, Georges had the division locked down with a reign of terror that lasted six years, to the tune of nine consecutive title defenses. Prior to "Rush," Matt Hughes dominated the 170-pound weight class from 2001 to 2005. But, according to Jake Ellenberger, those days are long gone, as he recently told Submission Radio that there will never be reigns like that again as the current division is simply too stacked.
His words:
"I think Robbie's a fantastic fighter and I do think he is deserving of that title, but I don't think he's going to keep it. This division is so stacked. It's funny, I was listening to an interview with Georges St. Pierre - he was on Chael Sonnen's podcast -- and it's always fun listening to Georges talk and he has great analysis of the division, and Chael was talking about the division not having a champion like George St. Pierre again which is true, and I think there's a couple of reasons. I think the first one is the level of competition has gotten so tough. You know what I mean? If you look at the era of Matt Hughes. I means there was some great fighters, but you could succeed with being elite in one area, and these days that's just not true. You gotta be good everywhere. There's really not anybody in that division that is going to keep the title, I think. You look at Johny Hendricks, Robbie Lawler, Rory MacDonald. I think they're all good enough to win the belt. I mean, I don't see Robbie holding it. I actually think Rory's going to beat him, and I'm not even rooting for Rory. I'm rooting for Robbie. But that's just, I think the kid is good. Whether you like him or not, he is good, and I think Rory will win; but I don't think anybody's going to keep the belt for a long period of time. No."
Ellenberger was knocked out by "Ruthless" at UFC 173 in 2014, but is confident if he gets another crack at the current champ, he has the skill set to defeat him.
For now, Robbie will look to defend his title for the first time when he meets "Red King" in the co-main event of UFC 189 on July 11, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Can he succeed where Johny Hendricks failed?
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