After healing from an injury that forced him out of a blockbuster rematch against B.J. Penn, Jon Fitch is scheduled to make his return to the Octagon at UFC 139. Although Fitch has earned a spot among the best fighters in the welterweight division, he won’t be returning against a fellow contender.
Instead, MMA Junkie is reporting that Fitch could fight Johny Hendricks on Nov. 19 in San Jose, California.
A two-time NCAA Division I Wrestling champion with wins over Charlie Brenneman and Mike Pierce, Hendricks is more than deserving of a shot against one of the top fighters in the division. However, Fitch does not deserve to be used as gatekeeper at this point in his career.
Despite fighting to a draw in their last fight, Fitch and Penn are being given very different opponents. Penn is scheduled to fight Carlos Condit, who is on a four-fight winning streak and riding tons of momentum. Meanwhile, if he is matched with Hendricks, Fitch will meet a fighter who is widely believed to be outside of the top 10 fighters in the division.
Even worse, Hendricks is an awful matchup for Fitch. Hendricks is strong in the clinch and has a better wrestling pedigree than Fitch. Essentially, this is a lose-lose situation for Fitch, who has been in the running for a rematch with UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre for quite some time.
While it may look like the UFC has something against Fitch by making this matchup, there really aren’t too many other options. In fact, Josh Koscheck is the only welterweight fighter without a scheduled bout who is more highly regarded than Hendricks. A long-time teammate of Koscheck at American Kickboxing Academy, Fitch and Koscheck have refused to fight each other for years.
Ultimately, this unfortunate matchup with Hendricks is just a matter of bad timing for Fitch, who could have avoided the whole situation with a win over Penn in their last meeting. A win in that fight would have guaranteed Fitch a shot at the title, but the draw severely damaged his chances at ever earning a rematch with St-Pierre.
Undefeated in his last six fights, Fitch is going to have to take a similar approach to his run at the belt as he does to each of his fights. If Fitch can continue to grind out win after win, just as he grinds out round after round in his fights, he will someday get his chance to taste UFC gold.
Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. Sean has also had his work featured on UFC.com. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.
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