Ellenberger stops Shields for fifth straight UFC win

Jake Ellenberger gave Jake Shields a great deal of credit for agreeing to go through with their fight less than three weeks after his father died.

Ellenberger didn't give Shields a whole lot of time to settle in once the bell rang.

In the main event Saturday of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's Fight Night 25 card in New Orleans, Ellenberger handed Shields his second straight defeat after 15 consecutive victories.

After landing a knee in the clinch that sent Shields to the ground, Ellenberger followed with a series of shots on the ground to prompt the stoppage 53 seconds into the first round.

Ellenberger, who has won five straight fights since dropping his UFC debut, easily shrugged off two early takedown attempts from Shields, then landed a knee to the body before landing a second knee to his head.

Shields had not been finished since his third pro fight in 2000. He dropped a unanimous decision to Georges St. Pierre in a welterweight title bout in April.

Two former winners of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show competed on the card with different outcomes.

Season 11 winner Court McGee won his third straight UFC fight and eighth consecutive overall, taking a unanimous decision over Dongi Yang in a middleweight bout.

McGee took the first two rounds of a slow-paced bout before each fighter survived a frenzied final round that saw both bloodied.

Jonathan Brookins, the Season 12 winner, was not as successful.

The featherweight was repeatedly thwarted in his takedown efforts by Erik Koch, who cruised to a unanimous decision by controlling the action.

Alan Belcher returned from a 16-month layoff for a detached retina that threatened his career to solidify his standing as a middleweight contender with a first-round knockout of Jason MacDonald.