Fighter Profile: Jon Fitch

Overall Record: 23-3

UFC Record: 13-1

Hometown: Fort Wayne, IN

Height: 6’0” Weight: 170

Born: 02-24-1978

Jon Fitch is a mixed martial artist who fights in the welterweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Fitch trains with the American Kickboxing Academy out of San Jose, California alongside other notable fighters – Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick and Cain Velasquez. He is trained at AKA by “Crazy” Bob Cook and Javier Mendez. He was awarded a black-belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under another AKA trainer Dave Camarillo.

Before entering the world of mixed martial arts, Fitch excelled as a collegiate wrestler at Purdue University. He wrestled four years at Purdue, eventually becoming a four-year letterman and a captain as a senior. His mentor at Purdue was Tom Erikson, a former PRIDE fighter, who eventually turned Fitch onto MMA.

After graduating from Purdue in 2002 with a degree in Physical Education and History, Fitch began his MMA career. In his MMA debut, Fitch showed that he was skilled in the wrestling aspect but “raw” in other areas. He was defeated by current-UFC fighter Mike Pyle with a rear naked choke less than three-minutes into the fight.

Fitch continued his career, despite his failed rookie attempt, and found success with his evolving MMA game. He would win his next two fights, with stoppages, while fighting for the Minnesota-based Ultimate Wrestling promotion. His skill-set was beginning to develop more than just solid wrestling.

Fitch struggled in his next two bouts fighting against Wilson Gouveia and Solomon Hutcherson in one of the United States longest running MMA promotions – Hook-n-Shoot. Fighting above his weight class at 205 lbs. against Gouveia, Fitch was manhandled and eventually lost via technical knockout in the 1st round. Against Hutcherson, Fitch received a No Contest after an illegal strike prevented the fight to continue.

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After limping to a 2-2, 1 NC record in his first year of professional MMA, Fitch would go on quite a run during his next two years. He would defeat the next seven opponents that he faced while fighting for Battleground, X-1, Shooto USA, MMA Mexico, and Freedom Fight organizations. Fitch routed seasoned veterans Shonie Carter, Kyle Jensen, and Jorge Ortiz during his streak.

His impressive streak caught the eye of UFC officials, who signed Fitch to a contract and pitted him against the muscular Brock Larson in his debut at UFC Fight Night 2 in October ’05. He used his strength as a wrestler matching the muscle of Larson to earn a unanimous decision victory in his debut.

His rookie bout was a sign of good things to come with his new fight-home. He would go on to compile one of the longest winning streaks in UFC history by winning his first 8 fights. The former Boilermaker was consistent, submitting Josh Burkman, Luigi Fioravanti, and Roan Carneiro, knocking out Thiago Alves and on the positive side of decisions with Kuniyoshi Hironaka, Diego Sanchez and Chris Wilson.

After eight straight wins Fitch finally was given his chance at the welterweight title against George St. Pierre at UFC 87 in August 2007. St. Pierre was on a mission using his talented skills to dominate Fitch from the opening bell. Fitch remained tough by lasting all three rounds but lost in his first title appearance.

After his title loss to GSP, Fitch was right in the middle of a highly-publicized feud between his managers at AKA and the UFC over the lifetime contract for the UFC video game. Fitch hesitated in signing the contract, leading to his immediate release from the organization. In hindsight the quarrel lasted less than 24-hours until Fitch was back under contract.

In his first fight after the title loss and contract dispute, Fitch showed that all he wanted to do was fight and win. He battled former PRIDE star Akihiro Gono for three complete rounds to capture a unanimous decision victory at UFC 94. The win put Fitch back on the map and back on top as a contender in the welterweight division.

Next up is dangerous Brazilian striker Paulo Thiago, who knocked out Josh Koscheck at UFC 95 in February ’09. Fitch will battle Thiago on July 11th at UFC 100 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Recent Jon Fitch MMA News:

• Defeated Paulo Thiago by Unanimous Decision at UFC 100 on July 11, 2009 - UFC 100 results

• Defeated Mike Pierce by Unanimous Decision at UFC 107 on December 12, 2009 - UFC 107 results

• Defeated Ben Saunders by Unanimous Decision at UFC 111 on March 27, 2010 - UFC 111 results

• Defeated Thiago Alves by Unanimous Decision at UFC 117 on August 7, 2010 - UFC 117 results

By Nick Russell
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer
Published June 2009