Omaha native Jake Ellenberger returns to his home town Wednesday for a UFC fight with Diego Sanchez. Get a behind-the-scenes look at his fight preparations on Omaha.com with trainer Riley Ross in the lead-up to the fight. Ross is the founder of Higher Tactics Treigning Systems, where he serves as a sports nutrition and performance specialist. He is also the Director of Personal Fitness Training at Vatterott College in Omaha.

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Jake Ellenberger spent five hours Sunday afternoon doing photo shoots, media appearances and radio and television interviews — all mandated for main-card fighters in the UFC. Jake and his brother Joe moved quickly from place to place to meet the busy schedule.

When Jake first started doing interviews a number of years ago, he admitted that he didn’t always articulate his thoughts, and interviews took longer due to lack of practice.

Much improved, he now jokes and laughs during media sessions. Not one to trash talk, Jake gave upcoming opponent Diego Sanchez credit for his skill set and record, but doesn’t worry about the outcome of Wednesday’s fight — the maxim “Respect all, fear none,” is one he takes to heart.

After Jake finished up his media requirements, we held his last training session before an uphill battle to make it to 171 pounds at the weigh-in, scheduled for 4 p.m. Tuesday.

During this late stage of training, Jake’s focus is to get his workouts to perfectly replicate the demands of a fight. He did no more than 30 minutes of training, but the intensity was at the highest level possible. Familiarity is a fighter’s best friend. We adhere to a warm-up routine that goes through the exact same steps as fight night.

Jake then endured 15 minutes of excruciating pain. Sweating profusely, he pushed his body as Joe and I encouraged him. Jake had minimal rest, and I tracked his heart rate and work output to ensure that his final efforts were the same quality as his first.

During the frantic workout, Jake focused on visualizing the fight — how he’ll cope with the same pace in the octagon. Called stress inoculation training, this method enables the athlete to mimic in practice what he will see and feel during competition.

As he finished the fight simulation, I assessed Jake’s output and recovery. I realized something I’d suspected since he arrived back in Omaha: I’ve never seen Jake at this level of performance before.