Update: Ellenberger confirms hamstring injury, out 6 to 8 weeks
Jake Ellenberger was forced out of his UFC Fight Night bout against Tarec Saffiedine due to injury, but the good news is the No. 5-ranked welterweight contender won't be out of action for any significant amount of time.
On Friday, Ellenberger spoke to FOX Sports and confirmed that it was a hamstring injury that pushed him out of the fight against the last ever Strikeforce welterweight champion.
"Yeah, it's been a rough week. It was a hamstring injury, just one of those things," Ellenberger told FOX Sports on Friday. "I've never pulled out of a fight before, usually I'm the one taking fights on short notice, but this was one of those times where I just had to do it."
According to his doctors, Ellenberger is expected to be out approximately six to eight weeks, but he suffered no long-term damage or tears that could potentially cause surgery.
As Ellenberger noted, he's never been a fighter known to pull out of a bout prior to now, but with the injury hampering his training for at least a few weeks there was no way to push forward and compete on Jan. 4 in Singapore. Ellenberger was returning to action after a tough loss to Rory MacDonald earlier this year — a defeat that broke his two-fight winning streak as he looked to get back into title contention.
Ellenberger still hopes to land a top 10-level opponent upon his return, it will just have to wait until a little deeper into 2014 for it to happen.
The plan is for the Nebraska native to rest and rehabilitate the hamstring for the next few weeks, and as of now Ellenberger says he's planning a return to action around the end of February.
FOX Sports will have more information on Ellenberger's next fight as it becomes available.
