The UFC recently announced that it will be adding an intriguing welterweight matchup to it’s UFC 153 card when the promotion makes its return to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil later this year.Former top contender Jon Fitch will be looking to bounce back from h…
The UFC recently announced that it will be adding an intriguing welterweight matchup to it’s UFC 153 card when the promotion makes its return to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil later this year.
Former top contender Jon Fitch will be looking to bounce back from his first career knockout loss as he is set to take on rising Brazilian prospect Erick Silva.
Coming off a Submission of the Night win over Charlie Brenneman, Silva will be making a huge jump up in competition and can solidify his status among the elite of the division with a victory.
Here’s the head-to-toe breakdown of this exciting welterweight matchup.
On Oct. 13 the UFC will pay another visit to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.The event, UFC 153, will be headlined by a bout that will see featherweight champion, Jose Aldo, put his title on the line against Erik Koch. Today it was reported that an intriguing w…
On Oct. 13 the UFC will pay another visit to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The event, UFC 153, will be headlined by a bout that will see featherweight champion, Jose Aldo, put his title on the line against Erik Koch. Today it was reported that an intriguing welterweight bout would be added to the fight card as Jon Fitch will face Erick Silva from HSBC Arena.
MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani was the first to report on the fight, tweeting:
Just about to board my flight to LA but I can confirm that @jonfitchdotnet and @ericksilvamma have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 153.
Fitch (23-4-1-1) is coming off a devastating loss to Johny Hendricks at UFC 141.
The fight ended quickly, with Hendricks landing a big left hand that put Fitch on his back and brought Steve Mazzagatti scurrying in to end the fight just 12 seconds into the first round. The one-punch knockout ended Fitch’s six-fight winning streak, dropping him down the divisional rankings while at the same time sending Hendricks’ stock skyward.
Fitch had been set to make his return to the Octagon on the July 11 UFC on Fuel TV card against Aaron Simpson, but a knee injury knocked Fitch from that event.
Silva (14-2-0-1) has been impressive since joining the UFC in August of last year.
He has fought three times for the promotion and has not yet had to extend himself beyond the first round. His first bout ended in 40 seconds, as he earned a knockout victory over Luis Ramos at UFC 134.
His next bout, against Carlo Prater, ended at the 29-second mark of the first round. The fight was mired in controversy, as referee Mario Yamasaki ruled that Silva’s strikes landed to the back of Prater’s head and disqualified Silva. The UFC awarded Silva his win bonus for the fight, an indication that perhaps it disagreed with Yamasaki’s ruling.
In his third bout, Silva stopped Charlie Brenneman at the 4:33 mark of Round 1, taking the fight via tap out to a rear naked choke.
This fight will be a big test for both Fitch and Silva. Fitch will look to prove that he rates as a top contender in the division, while Silva will attempt to continue his climb up the welterweight rankings.
(No, really Clay. Make yourself comfortable. Props: @JoeLauzon)
The UFC’s annual Fighter Summit — in which every fighter under the Zuffa roster is forcibly brought together for a series of lectures meant to educate and inspire — went down earlier this week in Las Vegas, and judging from this epic Sherdog thread, it was a nightmarish endurance test of boring presentations and insane guest speakers.
Browsing through the photos, you can just feel how uncomfortably warm the room was, how early the start-times were, how soul-crushingly dull some of those presentations turned out to be. (Anybody who’s suffered through an 8 a.m. Intro to Philosophy course in college can certainly relate.) The fighters coped as best as they could — mostly by napping and doodling. We’ve hand-picked some of our favorite photos that were tweeted out during the ordeal, and put them in the gallery below. Enjoy.
The UFC’s annual Fighter Summit — in which every fighter under the Zuffa roster is forcibly brought together for a series of lectures meant to educate and inspire — went down earlier this week in Las Vegas, and judging from this epic Sherdog thread, it was a nightmarish endurance test of boring presentations and insane guest speakers.
Browsing through the photos, you can just feel how uncomfortably warm the room was, how early the start-times were, how soul-crushingly dull some of those presentations turned out to be. (Anybody who’s suffered through an 8am Intro to Philosophy course in college can certainly relate.) The fighters coped as best as they could — mostly by napping and doodling. We’ve hand-picked some of our favorite photos that were tweeted out during the ordeal, and put them in the gallery above. Enjoy.
BJ Penn would much rather fight young guys than already established UFC title contenders, at least according to Jon Fitch.In an interview on “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani, Fitch was asked if he felt Penn was ducking a potential rematch with him.The…
BJ Penn would much rather fight young guys than already established UFC title contenders, at least according to Jon Fitch.
Penn officially announced his retirement from MMA in October 2011, but he recently agreed to a return bout against rising welterweight star Rory MacDonald at UFC 152.
Fitch has plenty to be bitter about. He is coming off a first round knockout loss to Johny Hendricks, and he was recently forced to pull out of his July 11 bout with Aaron Simpson after suffering a knee injury in training.
Even though he has fallen on hard times, Penn is still a quality opponent in the welterweight division, and a win could’ve expedited Fitch’s climb back up the top-10 ladder.
I’ve been thinking about Jon Fitch lately.Bear with me, because I know that opening sentence sounds a little weird. Fitch has been out of the limelight for some time now, ever since his knockout loss to Johny Hendricks sent Dana White scrambling with g…
Bear with me, because I know that opening sentence sounds a little weird. Fitch has been out of the limelight for some time now, ever since his knockout loss to Johny Hendricks sent Dana White scrambling with glee back at UFC 140 in December.
The problem with Jon Fitch is you hear the same thing from everybody about Jon Fitch: if I want fall asleep sleep and I can’t get to sleep at night, I’ll put in a Jon Fitch fight. Whatever you think – Jon Fitch is one of the best 170-pounders in the world. And yes, he’s in the hunt for a title again, but everybody – find one person that will tell you they love a Jon Fitch fight, it’s the most exciting thing they’ve ever seen and they just get so excited for it.
As White goes, so goes the fans. Most of them, anyway. White’s take-no-prisoners style has turned him into the tastemaker for an entire industry over the past 10 years. So if he says Fitch is boring? Fitch must be boring.
But he’s right. There isn’t a UFC fan alive who will tell you that they get all hot and bothered to see Fitch face another welterweight, even if that other welterweight has a history of exciting fights.
That is because Fitch has the ability to blanket anyone, take them out of their game and turn a fight into the kind he likes. Which is to say, a slow-paced, grinding, soul-sucking affair that leaves his opponents exhausted and the fans miserable.
The ultimate answer to the Jon Fitch question, I think, is all dependent on how you view mixed martial arts and the UFC by extension. If you’re the type who would like to see a little more emphasis on sport and less on pro wrestling theatrics, you’re probably fine with Fitch’s game.
If you’re a crossover WWE fan who started watching all the way back when Brock Lesnar made his UFC debut, you likely don’t care about sporting aspects at all.
Me? I fall in both camps.
I think we need a little bit of promotional muscle and hype put behind certain fights, to give them that “big-fight feel” and make them seem a little bit more special than the average monthly pay-per-view.
Silva vs. Sonnen 2 is a perfect example. Without Sonnen’s hype job before the first fight—and if he’d stopped running his mouth with the first loss—we likely wouldn’t be staring at one of the biggest rematches in UFC history coming up next month. It would be just another Anderson Silva fight.
But at the same time, I think more weight needs to be given to the sporting side of mixed martial arts.
I think there needs to be a place for the likes of Jon Fitch, and I think there needs to be a place for him to do his work—no matter how boring it may be—without being made fun of by everyone, from his boss to the fans.
Depending on how you feel about UFC welterweight Jon Fitch, UFC on FUEL TV 4 either just became much more interesting or just suffered a massive blow.
As initially reported by WrestlingObserver.com and confirmed by MMAFighting.com, Jon Fitch has suffered a knee injury and has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming bout against Aaron Simpson at UFC on FUEL TV 4. At this time, a replacement opponent for Aaron Simpson has not been announced.
Depending on how you feel about UFC welterweight Jon Fitch, UFC on FUEL TV 4 either just became much more interesting or just suffered a massive blow.
As initially reported by WrestlingObserver.com and confirmed by MMAFighting.com, Jon Fitch has suffered a knee injury and has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming bout against Aaron Simpson at UFC on FUEL TV 4. At this time, a replacement opponent for Aaron Simpson has not been announced.
It’ll be interesting to see who the UFC matches Aaron Simpson up with now, as this bout looked like a pretty clear rebound fight for Fitch. Jon Fitch was looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2011 campaign, which included a disappointing draw against BJ Penn at UFC 127 followed up by the fastest loss of his career, a 12-second knockout loss to Johny Hendricks at UFC 141. Meanwhile, Aaron Simpson will be making his welterweight debut after his last effort saw him drop a split-decision to Ronny Markes at UFC on FUEL TV 1. Before that, Simpson had won three straight fights at middleweight.
UFC on FUEL TV 4 will go down on Wednesday, July 11 in San Jose, California. The event will be headlined by a middleweight clash between Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman. The co-main event of the evening will be a light heavyweight bout between Brandon Vera and James Te-Huna.
On Oct. 13 the UFC will pay another visit to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
