Jon Fitch won’t fight teammate to get rematch with GSP
While Thiago Alves was able to last 25 minutes in his UFC 100 title shot with Georges St. Pierre, “Pitbull”…
While Thiago Alves was able to last 25 minutes in his UFC 100 title shot with Georges St. Pierre, “Pitbull” wasn’t the first man to force the welterweight champ to the end of the fifth round.
That honor belongs to Jon Fitch (19-3 MMA, 10-1 UFC), and after a UFC 100 win of his own over Paulo Thiago, the American Kickboxing Academy fighter is ready to do it again.
“My eyes are set on a rematch with ‘GSP’ for the belt,” Fitch recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “I want to fight him for the belt again.”
Fitch lost a unanimous decision to St. Pierre at UFC 87 in August 2008, the welterweight’s only loss in 11 trips to the octagon. Two wins since the loss have placed him squarely back in title contention, but there’s a slight problem Fitch’s teammate, Mike Swick, is set to face Martin Kampmann in September for a shot at St. Pierre’s belt.
Fitch said he’s excited for his teammate despite the issues it creates for his own title chances.
“I had my shot and I lost,” Fitch said. “That’s just how it goes. That’s how the business goes. You climb the top of that ladder, and if you don’t win, you get put back, and you have to find your way back to the top.
“[Swick] has put in nine wins in the UFC. He’s put in an incredible career with the UFC, and if he beats Kampmann, I think he would deserve a shot.”
And if Swick could defeat Kampmann and St. Pierre, Fitch said he wouldn’t consider asking for a shot at his teammate.
“If he wins that, he’ll get to sit on that belt,” Fitch said. “If he keeps defending it like eight or nine times in a row, then maybe I’ll move up a weight class. But there’s so many good fighters at 170 (pounds).
“The welterweight weight class in the UFC is the toughest in the history of the sport. We’ve never had another weight class in any other organization that’s had this many top-ranked [fighters]. To be in the top of that heap, that’s where I want to be.”
Fitch said the difficulty in preparations, along with the bond that’s been built between the two, would make a bout with Swick nearly impossible.
“That team and what we’ve built has built me and made me what I am,” Fitch said. “To disrupt that, what am I left with after that fight? You have to split up what trainer trains what guy, which teammates train with which teammates. You know that’s going to leave some kind of animosity.
“There’s always going to be some kind of hurt feelings with somebody along the line. So where does that leave you after the fight? Am I going to throw away the next 10 years of my fighting career for one fight? There’s so many fights possible at 170 (pounds).”
Of course, there is one way he might be coaxed into the situation.
