Morning Report: Jake Ellenberger believes Ronda Rousey would beat male UFC bantamweights

Spending some time training alongside UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has certainly left an impression on Jake Ellenberger. The welterweight contender has exceptionally high praise for Rousey, going as far as saying she would more than hang with males at 135 pounds.

"Oh, yeah. She could and she would," Ellenberger told FOX Sports. "I've known her for a few years but what really stands out with her is she works harder than most people in this sport. Male or female, it doesn't matter. She's always in the gym whether she has a fight coming up or not. And it shows."

A staple of Lake Forest, California's Reign Training Center, Ellenberger has been tightening up his boxing with Rousey's head striking coach Edmond Tarverdyan at the Glendale Fighting Club. He's also been rolling at the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Torrance, another of Rousey's usual haunts.

"There's no secret to success but hard work, and she's one of the hardest-working people in the sport in my opinion," said Ellenberger. "That's really what's stuck in my head from being around her. But she's very skilled and very strong and she throws everyone. She absolutely could beat a lot of the guys in that division."

I guess this recent tweet from Rener Gracie makes a bit more sense.

Who can guess why ellenbergermma is so angry??? http://t.co/qGQLtyBinC

— Rener Gracie (@RenerGracie) May 14, 2014

Ellenberger faces Robbie Lawler May 24, 2014 at UFC 173 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

5 MUST-READ STORIES

Aftermath. Dave Doyle recaps everything that was Bellator 120.

Vague recollections. Chuck Mindenhall explains how Bellator dared to matter. 'Madness and unpredictability and uncompromised "d*ck riding," even in the abstract, is never anything other than money well spent.'

PPV worthy. Following Bellator's first departure from free TV, Bjorn Rebney says the UFC holds some Pay Per View events he wouldn't watch for free.

'Lazy.' Robbie Lawler explains the simple mistake that cost him a title against Johny Hendricks at UFC 171.

Matt Brown called out. Nate Diaz says he's 'trying to fight the baddest motherf**kers out there,' not 'lame ass fighters' trying to build a name off him. 'My brother is retired. So if this guy wants to fight a Diaz, he's got to fight me.'

MEDIA STEW

Don't miss tons of post-fight interviews with Bjorn, King Mo, Michael Page and others from Bellator 120.

New feature from UFC, Embedded.

Episode 2 of Wanderlei Silva's training vlog. Nice appearances by Marcus Buchecha and Babalu Sobral.

Dan Henderson talks title hunting post TRT.

TTTHS.

Dana White's UFC 173 vlog.

Mamed Khalidov vs. Maiquel Falcao at KSW 27.

Long watches.

Bellator 120 post-fight press conference

...

Countdown to UFC 173: Renan Barao vs. TJ Dillashaw

TWEETS

Make sure to check out our Pros React piece for instant reaction from Bellator 120.

Congrats.

Rolled out of bed and I'm feeling like I got hit by a bus hahahaha me and Chandler had a war and I had a blast. That was so much fun

— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 18, 2014

So much respect to Michael Chandler that dude is a G. We had a amazing war I wouldn't mind fighting him again some day

— Will Brooks (@illwillbrooks86) May 18, 2014

Here we go.

@GinaCarano is on #TeamMoonWalker! Are you? @RFAfighting star @JMoontasri returns at #RFA15! @AXSTVFights pic.twitter.com/rQsIJiH2a7

— RFA (@RFAfighting) May 17, 2014

To the haters.

Oh ya thank you to all my haters!! pic.twitter.com/oLvcPVXQpW

— Tito Ortiz (@titoortiz) May 18, 2014

Not impressed.

Guess who's back? Wow. Looked terrible. Beat a small 85er. #mrirrelevant

— TJ Grant (@TJ_Grant) May 18, 2014

Tux?

Honored to be here tonight next to my friend @danawhite while he gets honored with the Visionary award... http://t.co/AMeNm8VRaU

— Chuck Liddell (@ChuckLiddell) May 19, 2014

Graphic.

Well, @mmasarah took a bite out of me and now I'm turning into a Canadian. What's that all aboot? pic.twitter.com/KNgoLTBrKF

— Nathan Quarry (@NateRockQuarry) May 19, 2014

here.

So excited to finally meet @mieshatate tonight at @sportsspec!!!! So cool and even more beautiful in... http://t.co/i57G7lTXTX

— Leeann Tweeden (@LeeannTweeden) May 19, 2014

2 girls 1 dessert.

Eating all of Keelys birthday cake * look mom no hands * http://t.co/vgi44gUHqY

— Felice Herrig (@feliceherrig) May 17, 2014

and more cake.

CaKes for @TJDillashaw and @holdsworth135 fights and @UrijahFaber and @chadmendes bday!!! #DickCake pic.twitter.com/2KM5FvCLkR

— Joseph Benavidez (@JoeJitsu) May 18, 2014

Proud.

This is how we get down at #ATT @illwillbrooks86 congrats!!! https://t.co/zcyw3hMzsV

— Yves Edwards (@thugjitsumaster) May 18, 2014

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announced this weekend (May 16-18 2014)

cancelled Francimar Barroso vs. Pat Cummins at UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Khabilov

Dennis Bermudez vs. Clay Guida at UFC on FOX 12

Trevor Smith vs. Tor Troeng at UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Miller

Thiago Tavares out, Niklas Backstrom vs. Tom Niinimaki at UFC Fight Night: Munoz vs. Mousasi

Angel DeAnda vs. Krasimir Mladenov at WSOF 10

FANPOST OF THE DAY

Today's Fanpost of the Day comes via MMAScout.

Rankings and the Matt Brown Fallacy

The UFC rankings and other major MMA news website rankings have come under scrutiny since they've been in operation. An obvious reason for this is that, unlike other sports where a certain amount of points towards a team / player's ranking is acquired through placement in a tournament, MMA has no such points system. Rankings are sometimes determined by fighter performance, win streaks, level of competition beaten or even a simple average of media member's opinions as is the case with SBNation. As we all know, these inconsistencies lead to misconceptions about a fighter's worth. Not a more obvious example exists than the recent resurgence of Matt Brown.

I will preface this by saying I am a huge fan of Matt Brown's style. He is easily one of the most entertaining fighters a viewer can sit down to watch in the welterweight division. His recent beat down of hot prospect Erick Silva seems to have opened eyes as to Brown's potential. Unfortunately, that potential as usual, has been blown way out of proportion. MMA is an emotional sport, not just for the fighters but for us as fans and it's easy to get caught up on the loose, trailing ropes of the bandwagon and dragged along so let us look at Brown's achievements as of the last 3 years with a little more depth and try to compare them with that of the other top 10 (SBNation rankings) fighters he has now jumped the queue ahead of in the UFC rankings. Considering he, himself is now requesting an immediate title shot, coupled with the fact that many people believe his recent position above Hector Lombard as 6th in the welterweight division is justified, I think that's only fair.

...

Check out the rest of the post here.

Found something you'd like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we'll include it in tomorrow's column.