Name Jon Fitch
Nickname N/A
Association American Kickboxing Academy
Weight Class Welterweight (170 lbs.)
Height 6′ 0″ (183 cm)
Reach 76 in. (193 cm)
Style Wrestling, Kickboxing
Birth Date February 24, 1978
Fighting Out Of San Jose, California
Country USA
Jon Fitch Pictures http://www.fitchfighter.com/

”’Jonathan Fitch”’ is an American mixed martial artist who competes as a Welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Cahmpionship (UFC). He fought Georges.St. Pierre at UFC 87 for the welterweight title.

Fitch received his Guerilla jiu-jitsu black belt under Dave Camarillo (the founder of Guerilla jiu-jitsu, which culls Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo together and gears it toward mixed martial arts) on July 2, 2008.

== Professional Record ==

Record 24 – 5 – 1 (Win â€Â“ Loss â€Â“ Draw) (1 NC)
Wins 4 (T)KOs
5 Submissions
14 Decisions
1 Other
Losses 2 (T)KOs
1 Submissions
2 Decisions
Result Opponent Method Event Title Date Round Time Notes
Loss Demian Maia Decision (Unanimous) UFC 156 Aldo vs Edgar 2/2/2013 3 5:00
Win Erick Silva Decision (Unanimous) UFC 153 Silva vs Bonnar 10/13/2012 3 5:00 Won Fight of the Night
Loss Johny Hendricks KO (Punch) UFC 141 Lesnar vs Overeem 12/30/2011 1 0:12 Won Knockout of the Night
Draw B.J. Penn Draw (Majority) UFC 127 Penn vs Fitch 2/27/2011 3 5:00
Win Thiago Alves Decision (Unanimous) UFC 117 Silva vs Sonnen 8/07/2010 3 5:00 Catchweight (171.5 lbs) bout
Win Ben Saunders Decision (Unanimous) [[UFC 111 St. Pierre vs Hardy]] 3/27/2010 3 5:00 Originally slated to face Thiago Alves
Win Mike Pierce Decision (Unanimous) UFC 107 Penn vs Sanchez 12/12/2009 3 5:00
Win Paulo Thiago Decision (Unanimous) UFC 100 7/11/2009 3 5:00
Win Akihiro Gono Decision (Unanimous) [[UFC 94 St. Pierre vs Penn 2]] 1/31/2009 3 5:00
Loss Georges.St. Pierre Decision (Unanimous) UFC 87 Seek and Destroy 8/09/2008 5 5:00 For the UFC Welterweight Championship; Won Fight of the Night Honors
Win Chris Wilson Decision (Unanimous) UFC 82 Pride of a Champion 3/01/2008 3 5:00
Win Diego Sanchez Decision (Split) UFC 76 Knockout 9/22/2007 3 5:00
Win Roan Carneiro Submission (Rear Naked Choke) UFC Fight Night Stout vs Fisher 6/12/2007 2 1:07
Win Luigi Fioravanti Submission (Rear Naked Choke) UFC 68 The Uprising 3/03/2007 2 3:05
Win Kuniyoshi Hironaka Decision (Unanimous) UFC 64 Unstoppable 10/14/2006 3 5:00
Win Thiago Alves TKO (Upkick and Punches) UFC Fight Night 5 Leben vs Silva 6/28/2006 2 4:37
Win Josh Burkman Submission (Rear Naked Choke) UFC Fight Night 4 Bonnar vs Jardine 4/06/2006 2 4:57 UFC Welterweight debut
Win Brock Larson Decision (Unanimous) UFC Fight Night 2 Ultimate Fight Night 2 10/03/2005 3 5:00 UFC debut; fight was at Middleweight
Win Jeff Joslin Decision (Split) Freedom Fight: Canada vs USA 7/09/2005 3 5:00
Win Alex Serdyukov TKO (Punches) MMA Mexico: Day 1 12/17/2004 2 2:15 Won MMA Mexico World Welterweight Championship
Win Jorge Ortiz Decision (Unanimous) MMA Mexico: Day 1 12/17/2004 3 5:00
Win Mike Seal TKO (Injury) MMA Mexico: Day 1 12/17/2004 2 2:35
Win Kengo Ura Decision (Unanimous) Venom: First Strike 9/18/2004 2 5:00
Win Shonie Carter Submission (Slam) Shooto USA: Warriors Spirit – Evolution 11/14/2003 3 0:41 Middleweight debut
Win Gabe Garcia TKO (Puches) X – 1 9/06/2003 1 2:41
Win Kyle Jensen Decision (Unanimous) Battleground 1: War Cry 7/19/2003 3 5:00
NC Solomon Hutcherson No Contest HOOKnSHOOT: Boot Camp 1.1 3/08/2003 2 N/A
Loss Wilson Gouveia TKO (Knee) HOOKnSHOOT: Absolute Fighting Championships 1 12/13/2002 1 3:38
Win Eric Tix N/A UW: Ultimate Wrestling 9/07/2002 N/A N/A
Win Dan Hart Submission (Guillotine Choke) UW: Ultimate Wrestling 9/07/2002 1 N/A
Loss Mike Pyle Submission (Rear Naked Choke) RFC 1: The Beginning 7/13/2002 1 2:35 Professional MMA debut; began as a Light Heavyweight

== Biography ==
After graduating from Carroll High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana), Fitch enrolled in at Purdue University in 1997 and graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor’s in Physical Education and a minor in History. A member of the Purdue wrestling team, Fitch â€Â“ a four-year letterman â€Â“ wrestled under the tutelage of Tom Erikson and eventually became the team captain of his wrestling squad.

Erikson â€Â“ a former PRIDE fighter â€Â“ 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.

== Mixed Martial Arts Career ==
Fitch began his career at Light-Heavyweight with a record of four wins, two 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 went undefeated until his loss to UFC welterweight title-holder, Georges.St. Pierre.

In his next seven fights, Fitch amassed 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 â€Â“ a last-minute decision by the production team that left Fitch stranded in an airport with his luggage already boarded â€Â“ he earned 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 six fights. With victories over Josh Burkman, Thiago Alves, Luigi Fioravanti, and Diego Sanchez, Fitch was now seen as a welterweight contender. On March 1, 2008, Fitch defeated Chris Wilson by unanimous decision at UFC 82. This marked his 8th consecutive victory in the UFC, tying the record set by Royce Gracie for most consecutive wins in the UFC. UFC President Dana White praised Fitch’s performances inside the Octagon, and indicated that Fitch would fight the winner of the Georges.St. Pierre vs Matt Serra Welterweight title fight.

Fitch was defeated by St-Pierre via unanimous decision with scores of 50-43, 50-44, 50-44 in UFC 87. St-Pierre retained his UFC welterweight title by exhibiting clear dominance over a durable Jon Fitch, scoring multiple devastating strikes and taking the former Purdue wrestling captain down at will. After the fight GSP spoke to Fitch about the growth that his own loss prompted, and said that Fitch’s experience should be no different. Had Fitch beaten St-Pierre he would have gone on a nine fight winning streak beating Royce Gracie and Anderson Silva‘s streak of eight.

Fitch was released from the UFC on the 20 November 2008. The dispute was over his reluctance to sign a lifetime contract to allow his name and likeness to be used in a video game the UFC is planning with THQ. In the end, Fitch ended up signing a licensing agreement that will allow the UFC to feature him in their upcoming video game release and returned to the UFC. Fitch’s exile from the UFC lasted less than 24 hours.

In his most recent fight Fitch dominated PRIDE Fighting Championships veteran Akihiro Gono en route to a convincing unanimous decision scored 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 at UFC 94.

On a recent interview in his official MySpace, Fitch addresses that he would like to fight Karo Parisyan on his next UFC vault.

It was then announced that Jon Fitch will fight Paulo Thiago at UFC 100 in Las Vegas on July 11, 2009. The fight was somewhat of a grudge match, as Thiago had previously knocked out Fitch’s team mate at American Kickboxing Academy, Josh Koscheck. Fitch defeated Thiago via unanimous decision, handing the Brazilian his first career loss.

Fitch was then scheduled to face off against Ricardo Almeida, but the bout fell through, so Fitch was then set to face Thiago Alves who was coming off a failed title shot. Alves was forced to pull out of the bout though, so in the end, Fitch would face Mike Pierce on December 12, 2009 at UFC 107 Penn vs Sanchez. Though a close fight, Fitch was given the unanimous decision, which improved his current win-streak to 3-0 since losing his title shot.

Fitch was then rescheduled to face Thiago Alves in a much anticipated re-match at [[UFC 111 St. Pierre vs Hardy]] on March 27, 2010. Only two days before the event, Alves failed a CT scan, and first reports said the bout was scratched. Ben Saunders was participating on the same card, where he was expected to face Jake Ellenberger, but Saunders asked UFC brass that Fitch replace his scheduled opponent, and that is what came to pass. Ellenberger was taken off the card, though it should be noted that he was still given his “show” and “win” money to compensate being scratched, and he was replaced by Fitch.

Fitch went on to dominate the fight in the clinch and on the ground, peppering Saunders with punches and elbows from the top. The crowd didn’t necessarily approve of the strategy, but Fitch dominated from bell to bell, winning the Decision (Unanimous).

Fitch returned at UFC 117 Silva vs Sonnen, where he faced off against Thiago Alves in a re-match of their 2006 fight. Alves failed to make weight, weighing in at 171 lbs, so the bout was changed to a Catchweight affair, and Alves was forced to give up 20% of his purse. Fitch used minimal striking, frequent takedowns and a controlling top game to win all three rounds of the fight, earning the Decision (Unanimous), defeating Alves for the second time.

The win could have possibly earned Fitch a title shot against the winner of the Georges.St. Pierre vs Josh Koscheck, though Fitch has yet to say whether or not he is willing to fight his team mate in Koscheck.

== Other Media ==
Jon Fitch appeared on the November 5, 2008 episode of MythBusters, “Coffin Punch”. The MythBusters were attempting to determine if someone could punch their way out of a coffin. For his part, Jon Fitch laid on his back and punched up into a sensor, attached to a punching bag that was a few inches above Fitch, allowing his arm only three inches of travel before contact with the sensor. The sensor read that the power behind Fitch’s punch was just over 1400 pounds of force.

== Trivia ==
* According to a recent interview, his preferred nickname is “OOUAH”, which was given to him by a group of Thai fighters he was training with. Due to the fact that he threw up several times in his first practice with the team, they made the name up as a way to playfully mock Fitch. The name itself, “OOUAH”, is meaningless except as an onomatopoeia of the sound of a man vomiting.
* He is tied with Royce Gracie for 2nd most consecutive wins in the UFC, with is 8. Just 1 behind the record holder Anderson Silva.

== Ranks and Titles ==
* Black belt in Jiu Jitsu under Dave Camarillo
* MMA Mexico WW World Champ (won the belt in a one night eight man tourney, stopped all three opponents, and was sick with mono at the time)
* 2002 Purdue Wrestling Team Captain
* 2002 Purdue wrestling Most Dedicated Big Ten Conference Scholar-Athlete Award winner
* 4 year letter winner in wrestling at Purdue University
* Junior National Indiana Freestyle team member.

== Websites ==
* [http://www.facebook.com/pages/FITCH/67018302448/ Official Jon Fitch Facebook Fan Page]
* [http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialJonFitch/ Official Jon Fitch YouTube Videos]