UFC 141: Why Jon Fitch Is Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

One would expect to find the consensus No.2-ranked welterweight in the world near the top of a UFC pay-per-view. But at UFC 141, Jon Fitch finds himself being in the featured fight of the evening.Fitch is set to square off against Johny Hendricks, and …

One would expect to find the consensus No.2-ranked welterweight in the world near the top of a UFC pay-per-view. But at UFC 141, Jon Fitch finds himself being in the featured fight of the evening.

Fitch is set to square off against Johny Hendricks, and it will be Fitch’s first fight back from a shoulder injury.

While Fitch was sitting on the shelf, Hendricks has won his last two bouts with his KO of TJ Waldburger being knockout of the night.

Hendricks sports an impressive 11-1 record and has great amateur wrestling credentials.

Fitch, to his credit, is considered to be the second-best welterweight in the world behind Georges St-Pierre.

The match should be exciting as the two’s wrestling talents could negate each other which could lead to a standup battle between the two foes.

But that’s not the problem for Fitch in this fight.

It’s the fact that Fitch isn’t fighting someone on his same talent level. Like my piece about his teammate Josh Koscheck, Fitch deserves better than Hendricks.

Fans know Fitch is in Dana White‘s doghouse, and that likely has a lot to do with his opponent. The timing of Fitch’s return also presents a problem as many of the top names are either injured or booked.

Besides facing lesser competition, Fitch stands to gain very little should he emerge victorious.

Hendricks doesn’t have a big enough name to help Fitch gain any ground in the title hunt, and when you look at the list of Fitch’s last few opponents, names like BJ Penn and Thiago Alves, Hendricks means very little.

Should Fitch lose, he will almost certainly be buried in the welterweight division. He doesn’t have an exciting fighting style, little fan support or support from his boss.

He’s in a no-win scenario as he should beat Hendricks, but it won’t do anything for his career and if he loses his career goes down the drain quickly.

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UFC: Fedor Emelianenko and 8 Fighters Who Are Getting Screwed Over

The UFC can be a fickle company. Some fighters get the royal treatment, adoration and spotlight while others are left to fend for themselves.Sometimes it’s done intentional. Other times it’s just a mater of bad luck. Occasionally it is because of poor …

The UFC can be a fickle company. Some fighters get the royal treatment, adoration and spotlight while others are left to fend for themselves.

Sometimes it’s done intentional. Other times it’s just a mater of bad luck. Occasionally it is because of poor choices.

Regardless of the reason, here are 10 fighters who have been screwed over by the UFC.

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Jon Fitch and 5 Other Fighters Who Get Hosed on by Fans No Matter What They Do

It seems that no matter what Jon Fitch does he is hated by MMA fans everywhere.  Part of it has to do with the way he doesn’t finish fights.  The man has rarely ever seen a win that didn’t see the scorecards.  Making it worse he won’t fi…

It seems that no matter what Jon Fitch does he is hated by MMA fans everywhere.  Part of it has to do with the way he doesn’t finish fights.  

The man has rarely ever seen a win that didn’t see the scorecards.  Making it worse he won’t fight teammate Josh Koscheck.  Not willing to fight the best in the world even if they train with you and then complaining about not getting title shots is not the way to make more fans.

Fitch may talk about trying to finish more fights, but actions speak louder than words and his show that he would rather win fights without risking a great lead rather than go for the glory.  It isn’t something he can be faulted for.  Fighters step in the cage to win and get paid and Fitch does both.

At the same time fans help with who get title shots.  If they are more willing to pay to see one matchup then a different one.  Fitch doesn’t seem to realize this or at the very least accept it and because of it he rubs fans the wrong way.

But he isn’t the only one.  Here are some more fighters who can’t seem to get love from the fans no matter what they do.

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UFC 141 Predictions

Main card for Lesnar vs Overeem UFC 141 Heavyweight bout: Brock Lesnar vs Alistair Overeem First thoughts are Overeem – EASILY. Lesnar has shown to have a rather large glass jaw when it comes to heavyweight punchers – but who doesn’t really? One clip from anyone that big and its over. Lesnar’s best chance is

Main card for Lesnar vs Overeem UFC 141

Heavyweight bout: Brock Lesnar vs Alistair Overeem

First thoughts are Overeem – EASILY. Lesnar has shown to have a rather large glass jaw when it comes to heavyweight punchers – but who doesn’t really? One clip from anyone that big and its over. Lesnar’s best chance is obviously getting this fight to the ground. Utilize the wrestling skills to tire Overeem out. The problem is Overeem’s take down defense is better than decent as it was displayed against Fabricio Werdum, Lesnar would be a fool to stand with Overeem and there is no chance that strategy is going to happen. Lesnar gets Overeem to the ground and this fight could go Lesnar’s way really quick, but Lesnar better not go for the double as Alistair has a ridiculously strong guillotine. Lesnar needs to take single shots and drag Overeem down or trip him.

Once in full or half guard, Brock on top is a problem for any heavyweight.

I think you have to decide will Overeem catch Lesnar coming in, or will Lesnar be able to drag Overeem down and keep him there for each round – maybe even getting the TKO.

5 rounds gives Overeem ample opportunity, in his UFC debut, to catch Lesnar somewhere with a K-1 level strike via elbow against the cage maybe? That cracks the glass of Lesnar.

My prediction Round 2 TKO Overeem. As long as the odds don’t go Jon Jones or Anderson Silvaish.

Lightweight bout: Nate Diaz vs Donald Cerrone

Love the Diaz brothers, but in this one I think Cerrone brings too much firepower and speed. If this fight goes to the ground its going to look like an instructional video. Cerrone.

Welterweight bout: Jon Fitch vs Johny Hendricks

Guessing the odds are close for this fight. Fitch doesn’t posess the power that Hendricks has and I think the wrestling is probably going to be pretty nulled between the two of them. Fitch has MUCH more experience in big fights though and cardio has always been of Kenyan marathoner quality. Hendricks carries more muscle and could tire quicker giving Fitch the late rounds submission.

Light Heavyweight bout: Vladimir Matyushenko vs Alexander Gustafsson

Tough call as I want to root for the old dog The Janitor Matyushenko, but Gustafsson is one of the best unknowns in the division. Taking Gustafsson because he is great with submissions – long legs – and Vladi is going to want to take Alex to the ground. Alex is also way better on the feet. Odds probably favor Alex here, haven’t seen them yet.

Featherweight bout: Nam Phan vs Jimy Hettes

Can’t go against Nam Phan – he’s awesome.

UFC 141 Preliminary card (televised)

Featherweight bout: Ross Pearson vs Junior Assunção

Ross Pearson – too much standup skills. Assuncao though on the ground will have big advantage, but he likes to standup – weird.

Lightweight bout: Anthony Njokuani vs Danny Castillo

Njokuani

UFC 141 Preliminary card untelevised

Welterweight bout: Dong Hyun Kim vs Sean Pierson

I can’t go against Dong Hyun Kim.

Lightweight bout: Jacob Volkmann vs Efrain Escudero

Volkmann is much better than he looks. Escudero is going to come out furious though to try and get back in the UFC.

Welterweight bout: Matt Riddle vs Luis Ramos

pass

Featherweight bout: Manvel Gamburyan vs Diego Nunes

Interesting fight. Nunes is pretty damn good fighter and hasn’t really had a chance to display it since his loss to Kenny Florian. I think Nunes here will win decision. If not Manny is always good for a surprise KO victory. However, I’m going smart and picking Nunes.

Michael Bisping and the 10 Most Overlooked Fighters in the UFC

Every sport has their fair share of athletes who dedicate their time and effort to doing what they deeply love.Unfortunately, many of these athletes go unnoticed despite the commitment they put forth.The sport of mixed martial arts is no different.Spec…

Every sport has their fair share of athletes who dedicate their time and effort to doing what they deeply love.

Unfortunately, many of these athletes go unnoticed despite the commitment they put forth.

The sport of mixed martial arts is no different.

Specifically, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has evolved into one of the world’s fastest growing organization and is filled with fighters who simply are overlooked.

For some reason or another, these fighters don’t receive the credit they are due.

The following slides display the 10 most overlooked fighters in the UFC today.

Let’s take a look.

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5 UFC Fighters You Should Not Expect to See on FOX This Year

The UFC agreed a landmark deal with Fox on August 18th, 2011. They will get to show four events for free every year. The deal is looking to bring a lot of new fans to the UFC.As a kind of preview for the deal, the UFC put on UFC on Fox 1. The fight’s h…

The UFC agreed a landmark deal with Fox on August 18th, 2011. They will get to show four events for free every year. The deal is looking to bring a lot of new fans to the UFC.

As a kind of preview for the deal, the UFC put on UFC on Fox 1. The fight’s headline was Cain Velasquez facing Junior Dos Santos for the heavyweight title. The fight would only last just over a minute.

Just one week later, UFC 139 would take place and the main event—Shogun vs. Henderson—was viewed by many as the best fight ever! Many people asked Dana whether he regretted not putting this fight on Fox.

Dana stated that he was happy as it would have led to complaints, and that they needed to ease fans into UFC. This suggests Dana will keep certain fighters off the Fox channel for while. This slideshow will look at the fighters I don’t expect to see on Fox. 

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