#3
Summary: Wrestling
Fighter Info
From: | Ft. Wayne, Indiana USA |
Fights Out Of: | San Jose, California USA |
Age: | 33 |
Height: | 6' 0" ( 182 cm ) |
Weight: | 170 lb ( 77 kg ) |
College: | Purdue University |
Degree: | Physical Education/History |
Jon Fitch began his career at Light-Heavyweight with a record of four wins, two losses and one No Contest. Understanding that the sport required cross training in the martial arts, Fitch soon left for San Jose, California to train with the American Kickboxing Academy.
In his next seven fights, Fitch amassed wins over fighters such as Shonie Carter, Alex Serdyukov and Jeff Joslin. After failing to make the selection process for the first season of The Ultimate Fighter – a last-minute decision by the production team that left Fitch stranded in an airport with his luggage already boarded – he earned a shot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 3, 2005, where Fitch defeated Brock Larson in a middleweight fight.
Soon after, Fitch dropped to the welterweight division and won his next six fights. With victories over Josh Burkman, Thiago Alves, Luigi Fioravanti and Diego Sanchez, Fitch was now seen as a welterweight contender. At UFC 82, Fitch defeated Chris Wilson by unanimous decision. This marked his 8th consecutive victory in the UFC, tying the record set by Royce Gracie for most consecutive wins in the UFC.[3] UFC President Dana White praised Fitch's performances inside the Octagon, and indicated that Fitch would fight the winner of the Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Serra Welterweight title fight.Fitch was defeated by Georges St-Pierre via unanimous decision with scores of 50–43, 50–44, 50–44 at UFC 87.[5] After the fight GSP spoke to Fitch about the growth that his own loss prompted and said that Fitch's experience should be no different. Had Fitch beaten St-Pierre he would have gone on a nine fight winning streak beating Royce Gracie's streak of eight straight wins (a record that has since been broken by Anderson Silva, currently on thirteen as of February 2011). The loss also snapped Fitch's 16 fight winning streak.
Fitch was released from the UFC on the 20 November 2008.[6] The dispute was over his reluctance to sign a lifetime contract to allow his name and likeness to be used in a video game the UFC released with THQ.[7][8] In the end, Fitch ended up signing a licensing agreement that will allow the UFC to feature him in their UFC Undisputed video game release and returned to the UFC.[9][10] Fitch's exile from the UFC lasted less than 24 hours.[11]
Fitch dominated Pride Fighting Championships veteran Akihiro Gono en-route to a convincing unanimous decision scored 30–27, 30–27 and 30–26 at UFC 94.[12] Fitch defeated Paulo Thiago by unanimous decision at UFC 100.
Fitch was expected to fight Ricardo Almeida on November 21, 2009, at UFC 106 but due to a knee injury sustained by Almeida, the fight was cancelled.[13] Fitch was then scheduled to face Thiago Alves on December 12, 2009 at UFC 107 in a highly anticipated rematch.[14] However, Alves suffered an injury and was forced off the card. Mike Pierce stepped in to fight Fitch instead. Fitch later defeated Pierce via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).[15]
Fitch was expected to finally face Thiago Alves on March 27, 2010 at UFC 111: St.Pierre vs. Hardy,[16] but on March 25, 2010, Alves was forced off the card due to a brain irregularity that appeared on a pre fight CAT scan. Jon Fitch replaced Jake Ellenberger on the card and face Muay Thai fighter Ben Saunders.[17] He won the fight via unanimous decision.
The Alves/Fitch rematch, originally slated for UFC 107 and UFC 111 was moved to UFC 115.[18] Once again the fight was moved until, finally, it took place at UFC 117.[19] This fight was confirmed to be the number one contendership for the welterweight championship (to fight the winner of the St-Pierre/Koscheck bout). Alves again failed to make weight, weighing in at 171.5 lbs, meaning he had to give up 20% of his fight purse. Fitch went on to defeat Alves via unanimous decision.[20] Dana White has since made remarks that the manner of Fitch's victories and lack of connection with the UFC fans has put Fitch's number one contender status in doubt.[21] Following Jake Shields' victory over Martin Kampmann at UFC 121, White confirmed Shields as the next in line for the Welterweight title shot, leaving Fitch's status in the division unconfirmed.[
Fitch was expected to face Jake Ellenberger on February 5, 2011 at UFC 126.[23] But after B.J. Penn defeated Matt Hughes at UFC 123, UFC president Dana White decided to match Fitch up against Penn at UFC 127 in Australia instead.[24]
On February 27, 2011, Fitch fought BJ Penn in UFC 127. Penn was in control for the first round, scoring takedowns and coming close to submitting Fitch on several occasions. Fitch was able to counter the submissions and survive the 1st round, but clearly gave that round to the judges in favor of Penn. Penn continued the same strategy in the first half of the 2nd round controlling a majority of the fight. During the last half of the 2nd round, Fitch scored his own takedown and ground control over Penn, who seemed exhausted and unable to recover. This left the 2nd round difficult to judge. During the 3rd round, Fitch scored another takedown over Penn and continued a long barrage of punches and elbows throughout the round. At the end of the fight the scorecards of the judges were 29-28 for Fitch, 28-28 and 28-28. It was declared a Majority Draw. BJ Penn admitted he felt he had lost the fight. When asked by Joe Rogan if Fitch would like a rematch, Fitch replied that he wants another title shot more than anything. No confirmation of a rematch resulted from the interview of either fighter.
A rematch with Penn was expected to take place on July 2, 2011 at UFC 132.,[25] but in late March, Fitch pulled out of the bout with an injury.
