Issue 050
June 2009
UFC 170lb-er Jon Fitch amassed one of the most impressive winning streaks in the history of MMA as he smashed his way to a virtually unprecedented 15 straight wins.
Despite his fighting ability, a contractual dispute with the UFC over image rights threatened to bring his career to a standstill in late 2008. Undeterred, he continued his march back toward title contention with an impressive stoppage win over Japanese showman Akihiro Gono at UFC 94.
Where are you at the moment?
I’m in my condo, in the dining room / living room area, I guess. It’s not a very large condo! [Laughs]
What do you remember from your first professional fight, which was against light heavyweight Mike Pyle?
I remember thinking when the bell rang, ‘Oh shit, he’s going to hit me!’ I was not prepared at all, I had not even sparred once to prepare for my first fight! It was just a mess. He’s a jiu-jitsu guy, he quickly went to side control, back control and then a rear naked choke, so it was not a good experience for my first fight!
What would you say has been the toughest fight of your career?
Obviously, the fight with Georges St Pierre. He’s pound-for-pound one of the best in the world. I had to dig down deep to keep moving forward. I did a lot of things wrong in that fight, but I did a lot of things right. I’ve learned from it and I’m going to come back stronger from it. I’m doing a lot of work focusing more on retraining my body and retraining neurons to help me become a better, more agile fighter.
Do you have any pre-fight rituals?
The only tradition that I really have is that I beat up my cornerman, ‘Crazy’ Bob [Cook]. I move around the back room and he gets punched up a little bit. So that’s the only real tradition I have, Crazy Bob gets a bit of a butt-whupping before I go out to fight! [Laughs]
What is the hardest punch you have ever landed?
You’ll have to ask my opponents, because when you hit them real hard, they try to hide it. Like, in my fight with [Kuniyoshi] Hironaka, a lot of those punches he kinda waved off, but they felt super-solid, resonating through the cage and the canvas. I felt it as I landed, especially in the ground ‘n pound. Those stick out in my mind, not just one though, there were several in that fight. He’s a tough dude!
Where do you hope to be in your career, say, two years down the line?
I’d like to have another title shot and be the welterweight champion of the world! I like fighting in the UFC at 170lb; it’s the toughest weight class in the toughest organization.
Are the difficulties that you faced with Dana White all in the past now, or are there any problems lingering on?
All you can do is put in the best performance you can and that’s what I intend to do in all of my fights. The UFC pretty much has every single welterweight worth fighting, so what I’ve got to do is fight those guys. Seriously, in any normal job around the world, how many guys love their boss and all their decisions?
Jon Fitch spoke with Jim Page
