Jon Fitch
Jon Fitch was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States on February 24th, 1978 and is the MMA Fighter. At the age of 46, Jon Fitch biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 46 years old, Jon Fitch has this physical status:
Jonathan Parker Fitch (born February 24, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist who has competed in Bellator's welterweight division since 2018.
He is a former PFL World Champion and has also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he compiled a record of 14–3-1 and challenged for the welterweight title.
Personal life
The day after UFC 100, Jon and his long-time girlfriend Michele got engaged. The couple were married on September 4, 2010 and had 2 children together, but then divorced in late 2018.
Fitch was one of three MMA fighters to file a class-action lawsuit against Zuffa, LLC, the UFC's parent company. According to the complaint, the UFC was involved in anti-competitive activities that hindered fighters and their mixed martial arts careers.
Mixed martial arts career
Jon Fitch started his career as a light heavyweight with four victories, two losses, and one No Contest. Fitch, who knew that cross-training in various martial arts was necessary, moved to San Jose, California, to study with the American Kickboxing Academy, realizing that the art was demanding it.
Fitch fought at Middleweight and gained victories over fighters such as Shonie Carter, Alex Serdyukov, and Jeff Joslin in his next seven fights. 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 a terminal with his luggage already boarded, he had a shot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where Fitch defeated Brock Larson by a unanimous decision in a middleweight fight.
Fitch made the welterweight division his first seven fights as a result. With victories over Josh Burkman, Thiago Alves, Luigi Fioravanti, Diego Sanchez, and Chris Wilson (tying the record held by Royce Gracie for most consecutive wins in the UFC), Fitch was regarded as a top welterweight contender. Fitch's appearances inside the Octagon were lauded by UFC President Dana White, who announced that Fitch would face the Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Serra Welterweight champion in the Georges St-Pierre vs. Serra Welterweight title match.
At UFC 87, Georges St-Pierre defeated Fitch by a majority vote (50–43, 50–44, and 50–44). After the fight, GSP spoke to Fitch about the changes that his own loss prompted, and Fitch said that Fitch's experience should not be any different. If Fitch had defeated St-Pierre, he would have had a nine-fight winning streak in the UFC, trouncing Royce Gracie's streak of eight straight victories (a record that has since been broken by Anderson Silva, whose winning streak ended at 16 on July 6, 2013). Both in and out of the UFC, Fitch's 16 fight winning streak came to an end.
On November 20, 2008, Fitch was fired from the UFC. The controversy involved his reluctance to commit a lifetime contract to allow his name and image to be used in a THQ video game. In the end, Fitch signed a licence agreement that will allow the UFC to include him in their UFC Undisputed video game series and returns to the UFC. Fitch's suspension from the UFC lasted less than 24 hours.
Akihiro Gono, a Pride Fighting Championships veteran, dominated Fitch en route to a unanimous decision victory at UFC 94.
At UFC 100, Fitch next defeated formerly undefeated Brazilian Paulo Thiago by a unanimous vote.
At UFC 106 on November 21, 2009, Fitch was supposed to face Ricardo Almeida, but the match was called off due to a knee injury sustained by Almeida.
In a highly awaited match at UFC 107 on December 12, 2009, Fitch was then scheduled to face Thiago Alves. However, Alves sustained an injury and was replaced by Mike Pierce. Fitch was ruled by a majority vote.
On March 27, 2010, Fitch was supposed to meet Thiago Alves at UFC 111, but Alves was forced to leave the match due to a brain abnormality that was apparent on a pre-fight CAT scan. However, Ben Saunders, who was originally scheduled to fight on the same card with Jake Ellenberger, demanded that he combat Fitch instead, and the main battle was called off. Fitch won the tournament by a unanimous decision.
At UFC 117, the Alves/Fitch match took place. This bout was rated as the top contenders for the welterweight championship (to face the winner of the St-Pierre/Koscheck match). Alves struggled to make weight again, weighing in at 171.5 pounds, which means he had to give up 20% of his battle fund. Through unanimous decision, Fitch defeated Alves. Dana White later expressed disappointment that Fitch's victories (primarily judges' decisions rather than finishes) and a lack of contact with the UFC fans had put Fitch's number one contender status into question. Following Jake Shields' victory over Martin Kampmann at UFC 121, White announced Shields as the next in line for the Welterweight title shot, leaving Fitch's place in the division unconfirmed. Since Shields' win was largely the same as Fitch's previous appearances, Fitch found this amusing.
On February 5, 2011, Fitch was supposed to face Jake Ellenberger at UFC 126. But after B.J., he was in danger. Instead, Penn defeated Matt Hughes at UFC 123, and UFC president Dana White decided to face Fitch Up against Penn at UFC 127 in Australia. The judges' scorecards were (29–28 Fitch, 28–28, and 28–28) at the end of the contest. It was declared a majority draw. When asked by Joe Rogan if Fitch would like a match, Fitch responded by saying he needs another championship shot more than anything. There was no confirmation of a match from either fighter's interview.
On July 2, 2011, at UFC 132, a rematch with Penn was supposed to take place, but in late March, Fitch pulled out of the match due to a injury.
Jon Fitch has returned to work after months of dealing with a shoulder injury.“I’m back!
Dr. Kavitne told me I was allowed to fight,” he tweeted. Fitch has made no small secret of his desire to fight on the UFC 139 fight card, which takes place in his hometown, San Jose, Calif.At UFC 141, Fitch defeated John Hendricks on December 30, 2011. He was knocked out 12 seconds early in the match.
On July 11, 2012, Fitch was supposed to face Aaron Simpson at UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman. However, Fitch halted the match due to a knee injury and was replaced by returning veteran Kenny Robertson.
On October 13, 2012, Fitch defeated rising prospect Erick Silva by unanimous vote, in a back-and-forth match with the Fight of the Night award. In a prefight interview, Fitch said that he was having a lot of financial challenges, and that losing the fight would force him to end his full-time work so that he could get a day job to help his family. He said that winning the match had saved his MMA career.
On February 2, 2013, Fitch next met Demian Maia at UFC 156. Despite being a top-ten welterweight and having a 14-3-1 record in overall, Fitch failed by unanimous vote and was eventually banned from the sport. Since most commentators had not expected a single loss to result in a ban from the sport, Fitch's resignation from the service sparked a lot of discussion regarding the UFC's "code of conduct" and general "skill-demand" in UFC.
Fitch has signed a four-fight deal with World Series of Fighting, which was announced on March 7, 2013. In a rematch against Josh Burkman, he made his promotional debut on June 14, 2013. Fitch was knocked down by a punch and then burst by Burkman for finishing with a guillotine choke submission. Burkman became the second man to beat Fitch by a submission, the first being Mike Pyle.
On October 26, 2013, Fitch met Marcelo Alfaya at WSOF 6, winning by a split decision. Despite spending the majority of the first round trapped in a submission battle, Fitch demonstrated improved striking in a back-and-forth match, beating Alfaya and following up with heavy ground-and-pound in the third round.
Fitch defeated Dennis Hallman at World Series of Combat 11, in his third fight for the promotion. He defeated the contest by unanimous vote.
In July, Fitch was scheduled to face Rousimar Palhares at WSOF 11 for the WSOF World Heavyweight Championship. Palhares, on the other hand, pulled out of the fight for personal reasons on April 30, 2014. On December 13, 2014, the title match for WSOF 16 was rescheduled. In the first round, he lost by kneecap. After the fight, it was discovered that Fitch had failed the California State Athletic Commission's pre-fight drug screening. Fitch, who had been vocal in his critique of PED users in MMA, had remarkably high test findings, which was almost certainly due to synthetic testosterone.
Following his nine-month suspension, Fitch returned to work on October 17, 2015 at WSOF 24. In the main event, he met Yushin Okami for the opportunity to challenge for the vacant Welterweight crown. Fitch was defeated by a unanimous vote.
At WSOF 30, Fitch was lined up to face Jake Shields for the vacant WSOF welterweight championship. Shields defeats Fitch in a submission grappling match though they have never met together in a MMA fight. The match was postponed due to labour issues between Shields and the company. For the vacancy in the WSOF Welterweight Championship, Fitch advanced to Joo Zeferino. He was a winner by unanimous decision.
On September 13, 2016, Fitch announced that it would defend the WSOF Welterweight Championship against Jake Shields against Jake Shields on November 12, 2016. The fight was postponed until December 31, 2016, according to the co-main event, which was on October 17, 2016. Fitch won the fight by unanimous vote.
Fitch claimed victory in the second round of the Professional Fighters League 1, his second title defense in the now-named league.
On March 1, 2018, Bellator MMA, vacating the WSOF Welterweight championship, signed Fitch.
On May 12, 2018, Fitch made his promotional debut against Paul Daley at Bellator 199. He was voted unanimously by the time.
In a welterweight title fight that was simultaneously the first round of Bellator World Grand Prix at Bellator 220 on April 27, 2019, Fitch next met Rory MacDonald. There was a majority draw in the back-and-forth match. MacDonald retained the title and advanced to the semifinals despite the fact that the match came as a result of a draw.
On September 12, 2020, Fitch met Neiman Gracie at Bellator 246. He was disqualified in the second round and later announced his retirement after the match.