Jul-14-2008
Jon Fitch – The Road to the Championship – Week Two
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Pullover Hoodie Arch - Kelly Green
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By Jon Fitch
Last week I got out of San Jose to see UFC 86 in Las Vegas. I’m usually against leaving camp and going anywhere, but the UFC flew out a training partner for me, so I had Nate Moore to help me out. He also wrestled for Purdue and he’s been training with us in California. He’s someone you’re gonna hear a lot about in the future. So I had him to train with, and we had all of our guys out there because (Josh) Koscheck was fighting. Phil Baroni was also back in Vegas, so I got my sparring in on Friday and I got all my regular workouts in, it was just a different location. I felt really positive about getting those workouts in while being out of town.
The day before the fight I was at the UFC autograph session. It was really cool to get a chance to meet a lot of the fans, and I was pretty surprised at how many people came out to it. It seems like everybody’s really excited about my fight with Georges St-Pierre on August 9th, and they’re telling me that they’re looking forward to watching it. The consensus is that if anybody’s gonna beat GSP, it’s gonna be me.
Signing autographs and meeting all the fans is still kinda surreal for me. I’m pretty humble about what I’m doing, and it’s crazy that people get in line to get an autograph from me. The way I see it, I’m still the same guy I was three, four years ago, but just walking through Mandalay Bay, I had to make arrangements to leave 15-20 minutes earlier to make all my appointments because I’d get noticed walking in the casino somewhere, and once one person notices you, it’s like the light goes off, and everybody comes over. And when that happens, I can’t walk away and tell anybody no.
My friends and family haven’t really experienced this whole ‘fame’ thing yet. The only time they’ve seen it is at fights, because usually I’ll come out and see them at their seats after my fight. But one of my disguises is that I’ll shave right after my fight, and people will take a double take ‘oh, that can’t be him. He wouldn’t be up here.’
On fight night, they had a closed circuit showing of UFC 86 in one of the ballrooms, so I spent a half-hour there with Stephan Bonnar and Amir (Sadollah), and we got to meet the fans and take some pictures and shake hands before going back into the arena.
I enjoyed UFC 86; it was a great show with a lot of interesting fights. People always ask me what I look for at a fight, and as a fan, I analyze everything, but I’m there to enjoy it too. Cole Miller and Jorge Gurgel, their fight was fantastic. I saw some really great things from both of them and it’s just really cool to see things that close. I was a loogie spit away from Joe Rogan, and it’s a different experience being that close to everything, especially at the UFC. I’ve been to a lot of small shows and sat close, but this is the closest I’ve been at a UFC without actually fighting.
As I mentioned earlier, Koscheck was fighting Chris Lytle, and when it comes to watching my teammates fight, it’s very stressful. It’s funny, but you’re more nervous for your teammates fighting than you are for yourself because you can’t control anything. It was hard for me to keep my seat during Koscheck’s fight. I kinda felt like standing up, and when he was over towards our side of the cage, it was a little bit of cheating because it was like he had an extra cornerman. I don’t know if he could hear me at all, but I was certainly yelling, and I’m happy he got the win over a tough guy in Lytle.
I’d also like to congratulate Forrest Griffin on winning his fight on July 5th. I think he pressed the pace a little bit more, and Quinton (Jackson) was a little too one-dimensional with countering the whole time. He needed to mix it up, attempt a takedown, and pressure him, but he sat back and waited for Forrest too much. As far as the scoring goes, I believe Forrest won, but anytime it goes to a decision, there’s gonna be controversy, especially for a title fight like that. It’s been proven over and over again that you can’t leave it up to the judges. I’m never looking for a decision, even though they happen sometimes because some guys are so tough you can’t finish them. But I really can’t see my fight against GSP on August 9th going to a five round decision.
For more information on Jon Fitch, visit www.fitchfighter.com
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