Jon Fitch has been a very relevant factor in the upper echelon of the welterweight division for the better part of twenty years. He made the walk to the cage for the final time in his career this past Saturday night. It served as a passing of the guard as such. He was defeated, via heel hook by Neiman Gracie at Bellator 246.
When the fight was over, Jon Fitch laid his gloves in the middle of the ring and thanked his friends, family, and fans. Today, we’d like to thank Jon Fitch for his contributions to the sport.
Fitch started fighting on the regional scene in 2002 and began a career in the UFC in 2005. He defeated Diego Sanchez and then earned a world title fight with Georges St. Pierre. He lost a five rounder to GSP and left the UFC for World Series of Fighting (Now PFL) where he was a mainstay.
Jon Fitch wins gold…
Jon Fitch defeated Jaoa Zeferino to become the WSOF welterweight champion. He defended the title twice, defeating Jake Shields and Brian Foster. He decided that point to leave the organization and fight for Bellator.
In his Bellator debut, he defeated Paul Daley. That victory earned him a title shot against highly regarded Rory MacDonald. The two went toe to toe and while Fitch was able to score takedowns and hurt MacDonald from the top, MacDonald had a big edge standing. I scored the fight 3-2 for MacDonald but the judges scored it 48-47 for Fitch and the other two scored it a draw. Thus, we had a majority draw. It was the second to last fight of Fitch’s career and showed he was still very much a factor in the division.
The next chapter…
Beyond what he has accomplished in the cage, Jon Fitch is a very interesting man. He has various interests including a fighters union. Also, as longtime friend and teammate Josh Thomson pointed out, Fitch wishes to write a cookbook.
He spent his career training with the likes of Josh Koscheck, Daniel Cormier, Josh Thomson, Mike Swick, Luke Rockhold, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and others at the legendary American Kickboxing Academy. I could see him remaining there as a trainer in the years to come.
He recently wrote a book called, The Weight Cut Bible, about how to cut weight properly. You can check it out here. He wrote a book about his life as a struggling Division 1 wrestler and becoming an MMA legend. It’s a great book, I highly recommend. It’s called Failing Upward/Death by Ego. It is also available on Amazon.
You can find his channel on Youtube, where you’ll also locate his Podcast called “Jon Fitch knows nothing.” It’s a great listen and he has tons of great videos on his page.
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