Jay Ellis is a late replacement to fight Rory Markham on Adrenaline MMA show

Neutral Ground fighter Jay Ellis of Milwaukee has stepped up on short notice and will fight Rory Markham this Saturday in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on the Adrenaline MMA show. Rory Markham was slated to fight Taiwon Howard (5-1), however Ellis’ name was added to the card just a day ago with no announcement. Jay Ellis joins Wisconsin fighters Jameel Massouh of Strasser's Freestyle Academy and Dave Kleczkowski of Matamoros Jiu-Jitsu all of which were added as late replacements on the card.

Jay Ellis trains at Neutral Ground BJJ in Milwaukee. He sports a (5-18) MMA record and has lost nine straight fights dating back to May of 2007. He fights at both 155 and 170lbs but his bout with Markham will take place at 170lbs. He’s fought in many of the local promotions including Freestyle Combat Challenge, Gladiators, XFO, and Madtown Throwdown. He most recently lost to Mike Vaughn of Blast Martial Arts and Fitness Gym in Madison at Gladiators – Thunderdome. Ellis has fought many notable fighters including Kiuma Kunioku, Bart Palaszewski, Sherron Leggett, and Joe Jordan. His most notable win came when he beat UFC veteran Nate Mohr.

Rory Markham sports an MMA record (13-4) and is a veteran of the International Fight League or IFL where he holds a record of (6-2). Markham trains out of the Miletich Fighting Systems Gym or MFS. He was a member of the IFL’s Quad City Silverbacks and helped the team win multiple championships. Of his 13 wins, 70% have been TKOs and 30% have come by way of submission. Markham is a Chicago native growing up on the city’s south side.

I’m not going to over analyze this fight. Markham is the bigger, faster, and more experienced fighter. I’ve grappled Ellis and he’s physically very strong and a very good grappler but he just isn’t able to put it together in the ring. His last eight fights haven’t gone past the first round and none have resulted in a W. In my opinion, he’s taken fights against opponents that are out of his league and this is an example. I assume there aren’t to many guys who are willing to step up and fight an experienced fighter like Markham on less than a weeks notice. While I wish him best and will be rooting for him on Saturday, I don’t think he’s going to beat the more experienced and bigger Rory Markham.


Adrenaline MMA
Sears Centre
Hoffman Estates, IL
06/14/2008

Main event:
Jason Guida vs. Mike Russow

Main card:
Daiju Takase vs. Terry Martin

Jameel Massouh vs. Clay French

Forrest Petz vs. Brian Gassaway

Jeff Cox vs. Bart Palaszewski

Jay Ellis vs. Rory Markham

Anthony Lapsley vs. Mark Miller

Herc Hayes vs. Kerry Schall

David Kleczkowski vs. Hector Urbina

Aaron Rosa vs. Ron Fields

Louis Taylor vs. Adam Maciejewski

Preliminary bouts:
Dom O’Grady vs. Mike Stumpf

Joe Jordan vs. Ryan Williams

Joe Pearson vs. John Hosman