Jon Fitch
| Jon Fitch | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Jonathan Fitch February 24, 1978 Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States |
| Nationality |  American |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st) |
| Division | Welterweight |
| Reach | 74.0 in (188 cm) |
| Style | Wrestling, Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu |
| Fighting out of | San Jose, California |
| Team | American Kickboxing Academy |
| Rank | NCAA Division I Wrestler black belt in Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 28 |
| Wins | 23 |
| By knockout | 5 |
| By submission | 5 |
| By decision | 13 |
| Losses | 3 |
| By knockout | 1 |
| By submission | 1 |
| By decision | 1 |
| Draws | 1 |
| No contests | 1 |
| Amateur record | |
| Total | 2 |
| Wins | 2 |
| By submission | 2 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Other information | |
| University | Purdue University |
| Notable school(s) | Carroll High School |
| Website | http://www.fitchfighter.com/ |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
Last updated on: November 04, 2009 | |
Jonathan Fitch (born February 24, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist. Fitch is ranked as the #2 welterweight and #5 pound-for-pound fighter in the world by Sherdog.com.
Background
After graduating from Carroll High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana), Fitch enrolled in at Purdue University in 1997 and graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor's in Physical Education and a minor in History. A member of the Purdue wrestling team, Fitch – a four-year letterman – wrestled under the tutelage of Tom Erikson and eventually became the team captain of his wrestling squad.
Erikson – a former PRIDE fighter – would occasionally bring other mixed martial artists to the wrestling gym, and Fitch would be introduced to such fighters as Mark Coleman and Gary Goodridge. The sport, and the money that the top-tier fighters were making interested Fitch, and he started his mixed martial arts career in 2002.
Mixed martial arts career
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.
Drop to welterweight
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.[1] 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.[2]
Championship fight
Fitch was defeated by Georges St-Pierre via unanimous decision with scores of 50–43, 50–44, 50–44 at UFC 87.[3] 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.
Temporary release and dispute
Fitch was released from the UFC on the 20 November 2008.[4] 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.[5][6] 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.[7][8] Fitch's exile from the UFC lasted less than 24 hours.[9]
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.[10] 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.[11] Fitch was then scheduled to face Thiago Alves on December 12, 2009 at UFC 107 in a highly anticipated rematch.[12] 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).[13]
Fitch was expected to finally face Thiago Alves on March 27, 2010 at UFC 111: St.Pierre vs. Hardy,[14] 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.[15] He won the fight via unanimous decision.
The Alves/Fitch rematch, originally slated for UFC 107 and UFC 111 was moved to UFC 115.[16] Once again the fight was moved until, finally, it took place at UFC 117.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20]
Fitch was expected to face Jake Ellenberger on February 5, 2011 at UFC 126.[21] 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.[22]
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 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 throughout the round, clearly showing him as the aggressor and victor for that round. BJ Penn beat Fitch in rounds 1 & 2 and bitch won round 3 but the judges didnt know what the hell mma meant especially after watching jon fitch fight.The end result was a decision for a draw. The fans were upset, and 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.
Personal life
Jon and his longtime girlfriend, Michele got engaged the day after UFC 100.[23] The couple were married on September 4, 2010.[24]
Jon Fitch appeared on the November 5, 2008 episode of MythBusters, "Coffin Punch". The MythBusters were attempting to determine if someone could punch their way out of a coffin. For his part, Jon Fitch laid on his back and punched up into a sensor, attached to a punching bag that was a few inches above Fitch, allowing his arm only three inches of travel before contact with the sensor. The sensor read that the power behind Fitch's punch was just under 1500 pounds of force (337 N). [25][26] Fitch's full power roundhouse right punch exceeded 7000 pounds of force.[citation needed]
Jon Fitch is a Guerilla Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt under AKA trainer, Dave Camarillo, and was a Division I wrestler at Purdue University; where he also was a letterman and the team captain.[citation needed]
Fighting style
Although given respect by the MMA community, Fitch's fighting style has been criticised by some MMA fans and media outlets for allegedly being "boring". [27][28][29][30] Fitch relies on his wrestling to control opponents and "grind" out a decision. He has not finished a fight in his last 9 contests.
Mixed martial arts record
| 28 matches | 23 wins | 3 losses |
| By knockout | 5 | 1 |
| By submission | 5 | 1 |
| By decision | 13 | 1 |
| Draws | 1 | |
| No contests | 1 | |
| Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | 23–3–1 (1) | B.J. Penn
|
Draw (Majority) | UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch | February 27, 2011 | 3 | 5:00 |  Sydney, Australia
|
UFC Welterweight title eliminator. [31] |
| Win | 23–3 (1) |  Thiago Alves
|
Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen | August 7, 2010 | 3 | 5:00 | Oakland, California
|
Catchweight (171.5 lb) bout; Thiago Alves did not make weight |
| Win | 22–3 (1) | Ben Saunders
|
Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy | March 27, 2010 | 3 | 5:00 | Newark, New Jersey
|
|
| Win | 21–3 (1) | Mike Pierce
|
Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez | December 12, 2009 | 3 | 5:00 | Memphis, Tennessee
|
|
| Win | 20–3 (1) | Paulo Thiago
|
Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 100 | July 11, 2009 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada
|
|
| Win | 19–3 (1) |  Akihiro Gono
|
Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2 | January 31, 2009 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada
|
|
| Loss | 18–3 (1) |  Georges St-Pierre
|
Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 87: Seek and Destroy | August 9, 2008 | 5 | 5:00 | Minneapolis, Minnesota
|
For UFC Welterweight Championship, Fight of the Night |
| Win | 18–2 (1) | Chris Wilson
|
Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 82: Pride of a Champion | March 1, 2008 | 3 | 5:00 | Columbus, Ohio
|
|
| Win | 17–2 (1) | Diego Sanchez
|
Decision (Split) | UFC 76: Knockout | September 22, 2007 | 3 | 5:00 | Anaheim, California
|
|
| Win | 16–2 (1) | Roan Carneiro
|
Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) | UFC Fight Night: Stout vs. Fisher | June 12, 2007 | 2 | 1:07 | Hollywood, Florida
|
|
| Win | 15–2 (1) | Luigi Fioravanti
|
Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) | UFC 68: The Uprising | March 3, 2007 | 2 | 3:05 | Columbus, Ohio
|
|
| Win | 14–2 (1) | Kuniyoshi Hironaka
|
Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 64: Unstoppable | October 14, 2006 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada
|
|
| Win | 13–2 (1) | Thiago Alves
|
TKO (Upkick & Punches) | UFC: Ultimate Fight Night 5 | June 28, 2006 | 2 | 4:37 | Las Vegas, Nevada
|
|
| Win | 12–2 (1) | Josh Burkman
|
Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) | UFC: Ultimate Fight Night 4 | April 6, 2006 | 2 | 4:57 | Las Vegas, Nevada
|
|
| Win | 11–2 (1) | Brock Larson
|
Decision (Unanimous) | UFC: Ultimate Fight Night 2 | October 3, 2005 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada
|
|
| Win | 10–2 (1) | Jeff Joslin
|
Decision (Split) | Freedom Fight: Canada vs USA | July 9, 2005 | 1 | 2:47 | Hull, Quebec
|
|
| Win | 9–2 (1) |  Alex Serdyukov
|
TKO (Punches) | MMA Mexico: Day 1 | December 17, 2004 | 2 | 2:15 |  Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
|
|
| Win | 8–2 (1) | Jorge Ortiz
|
Decision (Unanimous) | MMA Mexico: Day 1 | December 17, 2004 | 3 | 5:00 | Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
|
|
| Win | 7–2 (1) | Mike Seal
|
TKO (Injury) | MMA Mexico: Day 1 | December 17, 2004 | 2 | 2:35 | Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
|
|
| Win | 6–2 (1) | Kengo Ura
|
Decision (Unanimous) | Venom: First Strike | September 18, 2004 | 2 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada
|
|
| Win | 5–2 (1) | Shonie Carter
|
Submission (Slam) | Shooto USA: Warrior Spirit – Evolution | November 14, 2003 | 3 | 0:41 | Las Vegas, Nevada
|
|
| Win | 4–2 (1) | Gabe Garcia
|
TKO (Punches) | X-1 | September 6, 2003 | 1 | 2:41 | Yokohama, Japan
|
|
| Win | 3–2 (1) | Kyle Jensen
|
Decision (Unanimous) | Battleground 1: War Cry | July 19, 2003 | 3 | 5:00 | Chicago, Illinois
|
|
| NC | 2–2 (1) | Solomon Hutcherson
|
No Contest | HOOKnSHOOT: Boot Camp 1.1 | March 8, 2003 | 2 | N/A | Evansville, Indiana
|
Ruled a no contest after Hutcherson kicked Fitch in the face while on the ground, opening up a cut. |
| Loss | 2–2 | Wilson Gouveia
|
KO (Knee) | HOOKnSHOOT: Absolute Fighting Championships 1 | December 13, 2002 | 1 | 3:38 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida
|
|
| Win | 2–1 | Eric Tix
|
KO (Punch) | Ultimate Wrestling | September 7, 2002 | 1 | 0:07 | Fridley, Minnesota
|
|
| Win | 1–1 | Dan Hart
|
Submission (Guillotine Choke) | Ultimate Wrestling | September 7, 2002 | 1 | 1:14 | Fridley, Minnesota
|
|
| Loss | 0–1 | Mike Pyle
|
Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | RFC 1: The Beginning | July 13, 2002 | 1 | 2:35 | Las Vegas, Nevada
|
References
- ^ UFC 82 notes: Eight is enough for record - MMA - Yahoo! Sports
- ^ Jon Fitch Next In Line For Welterweight Title Shot. Fitch will take on St. Pierre at UFC 87 in Minneapolis on August 9. | UFCDaily.com
- ^ "Georges St. Pierre scores a unanimous UFC 87 decision Over Jon Fitch". KocoSports.com. 2008-08-10. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ^ "JON FITCH RELEASED FROM THE UFC - MMA WEEKLY - Mixed Martial Arts & UFC News, Photos, Rankings & more". Mma Weekly. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ^ Iole, Kevin (2008-11-20). "UFC drops Jon Fitch, other American Kickboxing Academy fighters". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ^ Sherdog.com. "Update: UFC Talking with Fitch's Management". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ^ http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=7635&zoneid=2
- ^ Sherdog.com. "Fitch Back in UFC Fold". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ^ "Report: Jon Fitch will sign videogame agreement, returns to UFC". MMAjunkie.com. 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ^ "Jon Fitch Vs. Akihiro Gono Official For UFC 94: St. Pierre Vs. Penn 2". MMA News. 2008-12-05. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ^ "UFC 106 main card takes hit; Jon Fitch says opponent Ricardo Almeida injured". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
- ^ "Jon Fitch to rematch Thiago Alves at UFC 107 in December". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
- ^ "Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce official for "UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez" in December". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
- ^ "Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves Rematch Scheduled for UFC 111 on March 27 in New Jersey". mmafrenzy.com. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
- ^ Marrocco, Steven (2010-03-25). "Jon Fitch replaces Jake Ellenberger, meets Ben Saunders on UFC 111 main card". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ^ "Alves vs. Fitch at UFC 115 in Vancouver". mmaweekly.com. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
- ^ "Alves vs. Fitch moved to UFC 117 in Oakland". mmaweekly.com. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
- ^ "UFC 117 main card recap, miracle submission saves champ Anderson Silva". mmajunkie.com. August 8, 2010.
- ^ "Jon Fitch may not get the title shot that was promised to him after UFC 117". MiddleEasy.com. Retrieved 2010-09-16.
- ^ "Shields cuts 20 pounds, barely overcomes Kampmann". October 23, 2010.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|publish=ignored (help) - ^ "Jon Fitch vs. Jake Ellenberger targeted for UFC 126 in February". November 1, 2010.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|publish=ignored (help) - ^ "UFC 123 in the Bag, [[B.J. Penn]] Faces Jon Fitch at UFC 127 Next". MMAWeekly.com. November 21, 2010.
{{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ "Jon Fitch Celebrates UFC 100 Victory By Getting Engaged". MMA.FANHOUSE.com. 2009-07-16. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
- ^ "Bay Area's Jon Fitch Primed for Top Contender, Impending Nuptials". BLEACHERREPORT.com. 2010-08-03. Retrieved 2010-11-12.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0H9XZl63-c
- ^ "Jon Fitch 'Mythbusters' episode on three-inch 'Coffin Punch' coming soon". 2008-10-24. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
- ^ http://www.411mania.com/MMA/columns/156265/The-411-MMA-Top-5-10.11.10:-Week-57-%E2%80%93-Most-Boring-Fighters.htm
- ^ http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2010/8/9/1614028/is-jon-fitch-too-boring-for-ufc
- ^ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/369871-ufc-111-sorry-jon-fitch-you-shouldnt-get-a-title-shot-after-that
- ^ http://www.watchkalibrun.com/2010/11/2/1788664/slapped-around-like-a-fitch-first-his-title-shot-is-taken-now-its-a
- ^ http://www.mmamania.com/2011/2/15/1995594/ufc-127-bj-penn-vs-jon-fitch-winner-to-determine-the-next