(Photo via Dave Mandel/Sherdog)
Jon Fitch‘s World Series of Fighting debut was supposed to be a cakewalk. The welterweight veteran was more than a 3-1 favorite against UFC washout Josh Burkman, who Fitch had already submitted in 2006. But when the two fighters met up again in the WSOF 3 main event in June, the narrative quickly changed. Fitch was choked unconscious in just 41 seconds — well done, Steve — and Burkman’s career-comeback was now undeniable.
And while the People’s Warrior is currently slated to fight for the inaugural World Series of Fighting 170-pound title against Steve Carl at WSOF 6 (October 26th; BankUnited Center, Coral Gables, Florida), Fitch is once again in a precarious position, fighting just to remain relevant. MMAFighting has confirmed that Fitch will also be competing on the 10/26 card, against American Top Team/Team Nogueira product Marcelo “Grilo” Alfaya (15-6, 1 NC).
If you recognize that name, please give yourself 250 PotatoBux. Alfaya had a brief stint in Bellator in 2009, where he scored a first-round TKO win against Joey Gorczynski, but was then KO’d by Jake Ellenberger in just 42 seconds. Though Alfaya is currently riding a three-fight win streak, he’s only competed three times in the past four years.
We get the feeling that WSOF wants Fitch to rebound hard, here. While there was originally some talk of having Fitch return against the Gerald Harris vs. Jorge Santiago winner at WSOF 4 — that would be Harris, by the way — now he’ll be getting an opponent who has been almost as inactive as Keon Caldwell. Anybody think Fitch has another good run left in him?