Jon Fitch

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Jon Fitch
Statistics
Height 6 ft. 0 in. (183 cm)
Weight 170 lbs (77 kg)
Born February 24, 1978
Fighting out of San Jose, California
Town of birth Indianapolis, Indiana
Fighting style Wrestling, kickboxing
Mixed martial arts record
Wins 12
  By knockout 4
  By submission 3
Losses 2
Draws 0
No contests 1

Jonathan Parker Fitch (b. February 24, 1978 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter. He currently fights as a welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Contents

[edit] Biography

In 2002, Fitch graduated at Purdue University with a Bachelor's in Physical Education and a minor in History. A member of the Purdue wrestling team, Fitch – a four-year letterman – wrestled under the tutelage of Tom Erikson and eventually became the team captain of his wrestling squad.

Erikson – a former PRIDE fighter – would occasionally bring other mixed martial artists to the wrestling gym, and Fitch would be introduced to such fighters as Mark Coleman and Gary Goodridge. The sport, and the money that the top-tier fighters were making, interested Fitch, and he started his mixed martial arts career in 2002.

Fitch is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu purple belt under Dave Camarillo.

[edit] Career

Fitch began his career at light heavyweight with a record of 1 win, 2 losses, and one No Contest. Understanding that the sport required cross training in the martial arts, Fitch soon left for San Jose, California to train with the American Kickboxing Academy, and consequentially, has been undefeated since then.

In his next seven fights, Fitch would amass wins over fighters such as Shonie Carter, Alex Serdyukov, and Jeff Joslin. After failing to make the selection process for the first season of The Ultimate Fighter – a last-minute decision by the production team that left Fitch stranded in an airport with his luggage already boarded – he would earn a shot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 3, 2005, where Fitch defeated Brock Larson in a middleweight bout.

Soon after, Fitch dropped to the welterweight division, and won his next two UFC fights against Josh Burkman and Thiago Alves. Despite his success in the UFC, Fitch went 3-0 in the organization before being offered the chance to fight on a live broadcast. At UFC 64, Fitch made his pay-per-view debut, defeating Kuniyoshi Hironaka by unanimous decision.

[edit] Trivia

  • Won an eight-man tournament in Mexico while recovering from mononucleosis
  • Has an Indiana teacher's license

[edit] References

Gerbasi, Thomas. "Jon Fitch – The Best Unknown Fighter in The World?" June 26, 2006.

[edit] External links