Jesse McElligott hopes a third time is a charm when he faces off with UFC veteran Patrick Walsh on August 14th at CES 30. McElligott (5-2) has only tasted defeated twice in his career with both of those losses coming against UFC veterans Josh Hendricks and David Branch. The 24-year old grew up a pro wrestling fan but it was The Ultimate Fighter that peaked his interest in MMA. “My initial aspirations were to be a professional wrestler when I was a little kid all the way up until a teeneager.” McElligott told MMAOddsBreaker. “The Ultimate Fighter used to be on right after Monday Night RAW, so that was like my lead in. I watched the first season and I got hooked. That got me wanted to fight the big [guys] like Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin. That was my big ‘Holy crap, I want to do this’[moment].” After going 3-0 in his amateur career, McElligott made a successful MMA deubt in 2010, defeating Jamie Fellows via third round knockout at Combat Zone 32. From there the Massachusetts native would go on 4-1 run, before a scheduled matchup with Steve Skrzat this past April at WSOF 20. However WSOF 20’s of that event suffered a huge setback on the day of the weigh-ins as Ronny Markes was forced to withdraw from his fight with David Branch due to dehydration. McElligott got the call that he would be Markes’ replacement. “It was crazy experience, I took the fight on the way to the weigh ins. I lost, I learned a ton. Just being in there with somebody of such a high calibre and doing pretty damn good against him. It really showed me where I am, my skill level really reaffirmed me where I am. It helped kind of rejuvenate me as well, made me see some things differently. It was really good, I felt immediately better.” McElligott looks to avoid back to back losses for the first time in his career, as he makes his CES debut against TUF 19 contestant Walsh. The Connors MMA Academy product was initially set to make his CES debut back in March, but his oppoent withdrew and the fight was cancelled. “I was originally supposed to fight for CES back in March but I had an opponent fall through. Something happened, he wasn’t able to fight. [Then] I was supposed to fight Pat for WSOF a few months ago and something happened, that fight didn’t happen. [Instead] Pat Sullivan of CES was able to make the fight happen for me on [CES 30].” Walsh (5-2) competes for the first time since his UFC release earlier this year and is coming off a loss to Daniel Kelly at UFC Fight Night 60. McElligott has had Walsh on his radar for a while and believes this is a good matchup for him. “I’m watched some of Pats fights. He’s been around the local scene for a long time too. I’ve always knew who he was. I think I match up really good against him. I know he’s a good wrestler but so am I. I’m very confident in my abilities.” Ahead of this fight, McElligott is training full time at Connors MMA Academy in Norwood, MA, where he also teaches Muay Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Confident in his abilities he gave one word to describle how this fight will end on August 14th. “Domination…..I’m feeling a knockout in this one.” A win over a UFC veteran in Walsh would put McElligott in a nice position in the light heavyweight class, which doesn’t boast a plethora of talent outside the UFC at the moment. So far he’s been pleased with how CES has treated him, but wouldn’t rule out a jump to a bigger organization if the opportunity presented itself. “I see this win taking me some places. He’s a tough guy, UFC veteran. I’m very excited for this opportunity that this [fight] is presenting me with. CES has been a great organization and I’d love to fight for them again. [But] I’m open to whatever is up next.” You can check out Jessie on Facebook and you can listen to the full audio version of this interview below on an “Extra” edition of The Parting Shot Podcast (23 seconds in).
