Injury forces Jon Fitch out of UFC 132 rematch with B.J. Penn
Posted on March 30, 2011, 11:55 PM by Joey SantosusJon Fitch has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming rematch with B.J. Penn at UFC 132 due to an undisclosed injury suffered during training.
MMAWeekly.com first reported the news, which has since been confirmed by sources close to the situation.
Fitch and Penn first met at UFC 127 in Sydney, Australia. After three closely contended rounds, the match-up ended in a majority draw. Whomever emerged victorious from the July 2nd rematch would have likely found themselves in a position to challenge for the Welterweight title.
Fitch (13-1-1) has suffered defeat only once during his 15-fight run with the UFC, which was a failed attempt at dethroning division Champion Georges St. Pierre. Following the loss, the AKA trained fighter picked up five straight victories before having his streak snapped by last month's draw.
Penn (16-7-2) returned to 170 last November after dropping back-to-back title fights to current Lightweight champ Frankie Edgar. At UFC 123 he was welcomed back to the division by his old rival Matt Hughes, who Penn knocked out just 21-seconds into the opening round.
There has been no word on whether the UFC will name a replacement or reschedule the match-up to a later date.
UFC 132 is set to take place July 2nd from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Penn vs. Fitch was set to headline alongside the Bantamweight title clash between division Champion Dominick Cruz and challenger Urijah Faber.
Photo: Heavy.com
Comments
Condit is asking for the fight. I hope Dana gives him the fight. I guarantee you, thats what the fans want to see.
i would love to see this fight over the fitch rematch. Not only will it be way more exciting but if BJ wins it will give him the confidence to go in and smash fitch the second time
That would def. be a sick fight. I do wonder if B.J. would still come out like he did against Fitch or just box with Carlos.
shiit....if condit wins it, it'll definitely make his name more mainstream....
When did he smash Fitch, again? o_o
he didnt say smash him FOR a second time, it will BE the second time....
Penn vs Condit is a amazing match up, dream fight coming true...hopefully UFC puts it together and hope Fitch isnt out for too long
i was looking forward to the fitch ellenberger fight maybe that could be back on the cards or if not ricky story is making waves!
Story is fighting Alves but ya I wnt to see Fitch vs either Stun Gun or Ellenberger
cool i didnt know. i'll take alvez for that one in that case
Let BJ fight Condit.......... I say just give Jon Fitch the title shot already, I think the man's earned it. Winner of GSP-Shields gets Fitch, what do you think? Let Silva go fight Jones. There's no need for a GSP-Silva fight, Silva's too damn big for him.
I dont fancy fitch beating either shield or gsp
Has anyone seen the video of shields tapping fitch with ease over an over?
What would happen if gsp wins and vacates?
WW Tournement!!!!
I hope Fitch comes back soon, but I have to admit Penn vs Fitch II was about to be one long boring fight so I'm not too mad about that at all.
kos so he can woop on bj and send him back to lw. come and weak on this :)
Kos still recovering from the last time he thought he could take on a MMA legend
Hmmmm, call me a conspiracy theorist, but I get the gut feeling that Fitch was not injuried. Let's be honest, over 70% of fans did not want to see Fitch-Penn II. And let's face it, Dana is not a fan of Jon Fitch.
Something tells me that Dana made a deal with Fitch - causing him to bow out gracefully. Fitch probably gets the next crack at the champ (after he recovers) and the fans get a much more entertaining bout with Penn-Condit?
I don't know, I'm just thinking out loud.
you are a genious, i thought the same thing.
Actually, I think a lot of people did want to see the rematch. People were kinda polarized on whether or not they thought Fitch or Penn had won. Not a lot of people agreed with the draw.
Maybe I am a conspiracy theorist too--but it just seems too convenient. I don't think BJ, Fitch, Dana, or the fans wanted a rematch, but when you have a draw--it seemed it had to be done.
If BJ got an injury, some might think he was ducking the fight--but if Fitch gets an injury...
The real test of this theory is seing who Fitch fights next. If it is the winner of Shields vs. GSP--then maybe a deal was done.
It must be a serious injury to sideline Fitch 3 months before the fight.
Way to think outside the box. Although I wouldn't be surprised that shady dealings and hush money happen all the time, I don't think this would be the case here. Fitch was extremely confident and he knows if he beat Penn, he should be the next in line for a title shot. While it may be true that he was next in line anyway, defeating Penn should have guaranteed his shot. But who knows. I wouldn't be surprised if your thinking happened to be true though, to an extent, anyway. I guess we just have to wait and see what happened to Fitch...
probablt syphilis from kos
I have to put my pillow away.
I'm actually sort of happy we don't have to see the rematch.
This is a blessing! So glad we don't have to watch another snoozefest.
yes! i was gonna force myself not to buy that card cuz of fitch, but now that hes gone ill gladly buy it, no matter who the replacement is.
Fitch is quite possibly the MOST boring fighter in the UFC. Althought "grinding it out" does get him the W, it doesnt keep the fans entertained all the time. Like maybe go for a sub or something, Just somehting to give the fans something to cheer
...good.
never wanted to see this rematch in the first place.
yeah i dont care how good a wrestler he is/ how good an mma fighter his wrestling makes him. i hate his ****ing guts and dont wanna see him fight
wasent looking forward to that rematch anyway.. Dont think condit will be ready to fight in july.. But if he is dats a good match up..
YES! thank god.... this is some good news. I'm glad to see most ppl here are just as happy as I am.
^ Proof of MMA 'fans' not wanting a rematch.
Look guys, hate on Fitch all you want but he's not going anywhere. He's the #2 welterweight in the world, and will continue to be until he retires. Deal with it.
And to the welterweight division unable to stop Jon, either stop his takedowns or refuse to fight him. Easier said than done.
BJ Penn, Thiago Alves, Diego Sanchez, Paulo Thiago, Ben Saunders, Mike Pierce, Luigi Fioravanti, Roan Carneiro, Josh Burkman, etc all failed. Who's left? Dan Hardy?
Point blank, unless Dana can convince Fitch to move up to the middleweight division, Jon is going to continue to dominate. Hell, Jon might just clean out the middleweight division as well.
lmfao Dan Hardy would give him a run for his money
Yea, and so would Bruce Buffer.
Jon Fitch would get massacred at MW. He will never be a champion at WW or MW if he has to beat GSP or Anderson Silva to get the belt.
"Who's left?"
Anthony Johnson would wipe up the floor with Jon Fitch.
Jon fitch is arguably #3 (Diaz fueling the other side of that argument ). Shields is #2, that's why he passed Fitch's supposed top contendership to be next to fight GSP, and with good reason. Shields finishes more opponents than Fitch, and IMO has better sweeps and superior JJ. Also just as Penn couldn't stop Fitch, Fitch didn't stop Penn either. No way Fitch cleans out WW or MW divisions.
As someone pointed out before, Jon Fitch also submitted Jake Shields in a submission wrestling competition. So officially, both Shields and Fitch are tied (1-1).
Couldn't stop Penn? Look let's be honest here (and I'm a BJ Penn fan), BJ was beyond exhausted and pummeled by the time the fight was over. There's no way Penn could have survived a fourth round. Fitch took the fight literally out Penn (evidence lies in where the man himself admits defeat).
No way he cleans out the WW division???? Hello. Where have you been the last 2-3 years????
Oh really? Anthony Johnson? The guy who got manhandled by Fitch's team mate (Josh Koscheck). Oh yea, he could so wipe the floor with Jon [sarcasm]. If Anthony couldn't stop Josh, then what on Earth makes you think that he'll stop Fitch's takedowns. Grow up.
And he may never beat Anderson Silva but the division is weak and fighters like Okami, Marquardt, Maia, etc have shown that they have trouble against the takedown. The only threat to him is Sonnen, and without PEDs, he doesn't stand a chance.
"The guy who got manhandled by Fitch's team mate (Josh Koscheck)."
AJ had Koscheck rocked before Kos faked like he got illegally kneed and then went on to low blow and eye poke Johnson. It's kinda hard to stop a takedown when you can't see.
Fitch's only chance against AJ is to hope to get a takedown and dry hump him til the time runs out, like he's been doing for the last 4 yrs. If the fight stays on the feet, Fitch will get his face smashed. A submission is out of the question cause we both know Fitch can't finish a glass of water.
Noone is refuting the fact that Koscheck can be knocked out (Exhibit A -- Paulo Thiago), but the fact remains towards the end Johnson was exhausted and unable to stop the takedown. The eye poke probably did have effects but not enough to cause Anthony to remain a sitting duck.
Tyron Woodly (currently fighting under the Strikeforce banner) once fought with one eye and beat his opponent convincingly. His opponent had dug his fingers into his right eye in the first round. Yet, he finished him in the same round.
There is no hoping, there is only will. Fitch has taken everybody except GSP down. Anthony Johnson's wrestling is not special.
To some degree, but Josh would have found success regardless. Anthony's wrestling is nowhere near the level of Koscheck's.
In my opinion, I don't think Johnson will ever get through Alves, Fitch, Penn, Koscheck, etc. Therefore, I don't ever see him getting a title shot.
Sounds like wishful thinking to me.
I call them like I see them.
Call it what you want.
Lol. Anthony Johnson is a dangerous opponent for anyone. He has good power and is a good wrestler (along with his massive size for a WW). BUT, he is no where near Jon Fitch's level in grappling. I'm afraid Rumble would get outclassed against Fitch.
Condit or Koscheck seems like logical replacements. Then maybe winner of this fight takes on winner of ShieldsVS Fitch, assuming GSP wins and moves to middleweight. Don't know if it is true or not, but last I heard, GSP wasn't going to make the move. If not, winner of BJ and whoever should get the next title shot.
An undisclosed injury for fitch? Here's what really happened.... I think Dana probably paid someone to sneak into his camp, after training , and hit em with a baton on the way to his car, Tonya Harding style, meanwhile Fitch grabbed his injured leg and screamed "Why??!! my title shot!" like nancy kerrigan.
only reason i want to see the rematch is so fitch can get his rematch that the ufc and dana white keep ****ing him out of he beat penns ass and will do it again but who ever they get to fight penn the winner of that will get a undeserved title shot but fitch will continue running through the ww division until he gets his!!! war jon
Hello, everybody, the good shoping place, the new season approaching, click in.
Welcome to http://www.voguecatch.com
Air Jordan (1-24) shoes $35
UGG BOOT $50
Nike shox (R4, NZ, OZ, TL1, TL2, TL3) $35
Handbags ( Coach Lv fendi D&G) $35
T-shirts (polo, ed hardy, lacoste) $16
Jean (True Religion, ed hardy, coogi)$34
Sunglasses ( Oakey, coach, Gucci, Armaini)$15
New era cap $16
Bikini (Ed hardy, polo) $18
FREE SHIPPING
=== http://www.voguecatch.com
=== http://www.voguecatch.com
=== http://www.voguecatch.com
=== http://www.voguecatch.com
=== http://www.voguecatch.com