Jake Ellenberger battered John Howard until the doctor was forced to step in and stop the action in the third round.

This was Howard's first loss in five UFC fights.  

Howard won most of the exchanges on the feet, but he had no answer for Ellenberger's take downs and ground and pound.

Both fighters landed with hard punches in the first round but Ellenberger won the positional battle with two take downs. He also landed the crisper jabs although Howard's shots were possibly harder. 

Howard opened the second with a hard head kick and a punch but Ellenberger quickly got a take down. Howard threatened with a triangle but Ellenberger passed to 1/2 guard and escaped danger. Howard managed to stymie Jake from his back but still endured some ground and pound. Howard fought back to his feet with 90 seconds left in the round and began battering Ellenberger. But once again, Ellenberger's reaction once he got in trouble was to shoot for the take down and once again he got it. By the end of the round Howard's left eye had swollen prodigiously from Ellenberger's ground and pound barrage.

Howard came out blazing in the third round, landing with a punch and a flying knee that staggered Ellenberger. But once again Ellenberger managed to tie Howard up when he got in trouble. Ellenberger scored another take down with a nifty knee tap near the 3:30 mark.  Soon after referee Herb Dean called in the ref to look at Howard and the fight was stopped. 

Two hard hitting welterweights who had earned their way onto the televised card of UFC on Versus 2 met in the Octagon in San Diego. John Howard who's put together an impressive undefeated run in the UFC  and Jake Ellenberger who is probably best known for giving perennial top 10 welterweight Carlos Condit a very close scare both came into the fight looking to emerge as a contender with a win.