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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Despite a vocal declaration that his bout with Thiago Alves at UFC 117 was to determine the #1 contender in the welterweight division, Jon Fitch has been passed over for a shot at the Championship in favor of Jake Shields. And while Fitch has every right to be upset about the situation, he's placed the blame on himself.
"I'm not going to cry about it,” Fitch said, in comments made to Loretta Hunt for the LA Times. "If I've failed to convince the UFC, Dana White, and the fans that I'm overwhelmingly the No. 1 contender and that I absolutely should be fighting for the belt, then I take that as my own responsibility. It's my own fault. If people are dissatisfied, then I'm going to correct that."
Fitch's seeming inability to finish fights, along with his smothering top game, haven't won him too many fans. He's been dominant in all his fights outside of the loss to Georges St. Pierre two years ago, but his fights haven't brought out the excitement and adoration of fans, and Fitch said he's now coming to realize that.
"I really don't know what they're thinking [as to why I haven't gotten the shot]," he said. "My only thinking is that if I’m not overwhelmingly, in the fans’ opinion, the guy who deserves it, then I have to win them over... It kind of was a little bit of a recent revelation [for me]. There wasn't an overwhelming rush of support after the Alves fight. That was kind of eye-opening. I handily beat the No. 3 [fighter] in the world, and people are still not willing to thrust me into competition with GSP. Something's missing."
Fitch realizes that, at the end of the day, since he's already had a shot before and come up short, it's down to a monetary issue.
"It comes down to making money," he said. "If they don’t think they can make money off you, then they're not going to give you those fights."
"Those fights" include a rematch with St. Pierre, Carlos Condit and Jake Shields in the welterweight division, but a Josh Koscheck win over GSP on December 11 could lead Fitch to move up once he's had a chance to fight those three.
"Jake Shields, GSP, and Carlos Condit," said Fitch. "I'd still want to fight those guys regardless of Koscheck winning the belt or not. If Koscheck holds onto the belt for a while, than I could look at moving up a weight class."
Penick's Analysis: Fitch says he's been finishing his training partners in his camp more often than before previous fights, and beginning with Jake Ellenberger in February he'll be looking to be more impressive in his performances in the Octagon. I hope he uses this snub as motivation to begin finding a way to win fights without going to the judges' scorecards, and force people to recognize that he deserves another shot at the Welterweight Championship. I'd certainly put him in that spot at this point, and I think he's done enough to earn another shot, but clearly it wasn't enough for the UFC at this point, and a lot of fans haven't come around. If he can find a way to stop a very tough Jake Ellenberger, he'll do a lot to turn things in a different direction for himself.
[Jon Fitch art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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