Jon Fitch Youtube Videos
Jon Fitch Bio
Jonathan Parker Fitch (born February 24, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing as a welterweight in the UFC. As of March 2012, Fitch is ranked as the #5 welterweight fighter in the world by Sherdog.
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. As a walk-on to 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. Fitch compiled an 18-10 record in his final year, and finished with a 45-49 record overall for his collegiate wrestling career. Tom 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. 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.
Championship fight
Fitch was defeated by Georges St-Pierre via unanimous decision with scores of 50–43, 50–44, 50–44 at UFC 87. 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 had a nine fight winning streak in the UFC, surpassing Royce Gracie's streak of eight straight wins (a record that has since been broken by Anderson Silva, currently on fourteen as of August 2011). The loss also snapped Fitch's 16 fight winning streak, both in and out of the UFC.
Back to title contention
Fitch was released from the UFC on the 20 November 2008. 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. 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. Fitch's exile from the UFC lasted less than 24 hours.
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. 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. Fitch was then scheduled to face Thiago Alves on December 12, 2009 at UFC 107 in a highly anticipated rematch. 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).
Fitch was expected to finally face Thiago Alves on March 27, 2010 at UFC 111: St.Pierre vs. Hardy, 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. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
The Alves/Fitch rematch, originally slated for UFC 107 and UFC 111 was moved to UFC 115. Once again the fight was moved until, finally, it took place at UFC 117. 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. Dana White later made remarks that the manner of Fitch's victories (primarily judges' decisions rather than finishes) and lack of connection with the UFC fans has put Fitch's number one contender status in doubt. 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. 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.
On February 27, 2011, Fitch fought BJ Penn in UFC 127. 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. 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., but in late March, Fitch pulled out of the bout with an injury.
After months of dealing with a shoulder injury, Jon Fitch is back in business. “I’m back! Dr. Kavitne gave me the ok to fight,” he tweeted. Fitch has made no small secret of his desire to fight on the UFC 139 fight card that takes place in his city of residence, San Jose, Calif.
Fitch fought Johny Hendricks on December 30, 2011 at UFC 141. He was knocked out 12 seconds into the fight.
Fitch is expected to face Aaron Simpson on July 11, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV 4.
Personal life
Jon and his longtime girlfriend Michele got engaged the day after UFC 100. The couple were married on September 4, 2010.
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 1,500 pounds of force (6672 N).
Championships and Accomplishments
Mixed martial arts
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Fight of the Night (One time)
- Fitch and Georges St-Pierre hold the record for the most number of wins by decision in the UFC. He has won 9 fights by way of decision.
Mixed martial arts record
External links
- Official UFC Profile
- Homepage of Jon Fitch
- Professional MMA record for Jon Fitch from Sherdog
- Official Jon Fitch Facebook Fan Page
- Official Jon Fitch YouTube Videos
- Michele Cao Fitch Biography
MMA Shirts
