Jon Fitch was looking to bounce back in his first fight since being released by the UFC at World Series of Fighting 3; instead, he suffered one of the worst losses of his career Friday night in Las Vegas.
Fitch was choked unconscious by Josh Burkman via guillotine choke at the 41-second mark of the opening round of the main event.
The AKA fighter got knocked down after getting clipped by a right hand. From there, Burkman landed a couple of left hands during the scramble and then stood up and secured the guillotine choke. Fitch grabbed a single and both fighters went to the mat.
Fitch was then choked unconscious inside of Burkman’s half-guard. Burkman had to release the choke and roll the unconscious Fitch over on his back and stand over him triumphantly, before referee Steve Mazzagatti called a halt to the action.
“I went for the lift instead of fighting the choke,” Fitch said to Joey Varner in the post-fight interview.
“I got a little over confident with my choke defense,” he admitted. “I was going to try and slam him but he locked it in too tight. Mistake on my part, I should’ve fought the choke right away.”
A devastating loss for Fitch, and the first time he has ever lost back-to-back fights in his career. He is now 1-3 in his last three fights.
He made a push to get a rubber match against Burkman. “Let’s do it again,” Fitch said. “Let’s do it for five, and let’s do it for that belt.”
If the 35-year-old welterweight thinks he is getting a title shot after that performance, he is sadly mistaken.
The WSOF currently has no belts. However, Fitch will have to go back to the drawing board if he wants to compete for one.
It is clear after the past few performances that Fitch is clearly on the down side of his career. It remains to be seen if he has any good fights left to offer.
He will have to take some time to regroup after the embarrassing defeat. As to who the WSOF matches him up against, it’s anybody’s guess.
A matchup against Aaron Simpson or Tyson Steele makes sense.
Michael Stets is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com