Jon Fitch set to take on Jake Ellenberger at UFC 126
Posted on November 2, 2010, 05:52 PM by Jamie KennedyUFC welterweight contenders Jon Fitch and Jake Ellengerger are set to fight at the UFC 126 card in the Mandalay Bay events Centre in Las Vegas Nevada, on February 5th 2011. This may come as a bit of a shock to some, as Fitch has previously stated that he'd liked to have fought the winner of the Jake Shields and Martin Kampmann fight that Shields won via decision at UFC 121.
Fitch was also promised a title shot if he was victorious against dangerous Brazilian striker Thiago Alves, in which he was and yet no sign of a title shot for the talented wrestler, who fights out of the American Kickboxing Academy. Fitch's only loss in his UFC career came at the hands of current welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre at UFC 87 back in 2008, and since then has gone on a five-fight unbeaten streak, although many have criticised Fitch as all of his wins since his sole defeat have came by way of decision, and maybe that is playing a factor in Dana White's hesitant approach to give him another shot at the title.
Whereas a relatively unknown Jake Ellenberger will get to step up his game in the UFC welterweight division, by taking on Fitch. Ellenberger has an impressive record of 22 wins and 5 losses, with 15 of those wins coming by way of KO or TKO. He has had just 3 fights in the UFC to date, his first fight was against former WEC welterweight Champion Carlos 'The Natural Born Killer' Condit which he lost by split decision. But since then Ellenberger has disposed of UFC veteran Mike Pyle, and John Howard both by way of technical knockout en route to his climb up the welterweight ladder, and will now face his toughest test to date in a very game Jon Fitch, and if he can pull off the upset it will throw him right into the mix of the UFC 170lb division.
This is in many eyes a surprise match-up, as many were expecting Fitch to take on the winner of the Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koshcheck title fight, and even in light of Carlos Condit's recent comments, stating that he wants to fight Fitch, the UFC have opted for this fight instead, Dana White must be trying to shake up the UFC welterweight division, that Georges St. Pierre is currently dominating.
Source: MMAJUNKIE
Comments
I think this is a bad match up unless Dana White says its for the number one contender spot because if he doesn't then if Fitch wins he gets a title shot and if Ellenberger wins he most likely won't just like Shields/Kampmman fight...they should have just made Condit vs Fitch for the title shot it was pretty obvious fight especially now that Condit is calling Fitch out
i like how it says that the fact that fitch has gone to a decision in his last 5ws is the reason why dana is not giving him the shot is pretty messed up since it didnt bother dana when shield went to a split decision and got his shot anyways.
30-27 for Jon Smoke Break Fitch.
Haha that is hilarious!
i feel the same way. how did ellenBerger even get a shot at fitch though? fitch is the #2 WW in the world despite how much the UFC shafts him for a title shot, and Ellenberger is only on a 2fight streak and lost last year to condit. i'd like to see fitch against a more accomplished ww like rick story or nick lentz
it's all politics. you just did the math right there.
here is the correct math problem:
ellenberger loses to condit + condit knocks out hardy= condit vs fitch.
this is the incorrect problem:
ellenberger loses to condit+ condit knocks out hardy =ellenberger vs fitch.
is everyone forgetting that dan hardy just fought GSP for a title and that he just got KTFO by condit? isn't that worth anything???
No reason to make this fight yeah Fitch is boring but he gets the job done sheilds vs fitch for no 1 contender
BOOOO boring Fitch is a great fighter but i dont like his style he doesnt go for it he just goes for the win which is lame
Agreed - I'm sure he's a nice guy but he's just painful to watch. I'd rather watch my dog dry hump a pillow than sit through another snoozer Fitch fight.
This makes ABSOLUTELY no sense. In Fitch's last 22 fights, he's only lost to GSP in a decision for the title.
He's beaten Diego Sanchez, Paulo Thiago, Ben Saunders and Thiago Alves (twice!)
Why isn't this man fighting for the title?
Politics....
It's politics if they are Fitch's politics. His training partner has a title shot. He doesn't want to fight Kos so he's waiting, saying he wants a shot at Jake Shields who has already been given a title shot with his win over Kampmann. Trust me, if Kos wasn't going for the title, Fitch would be screaming for a title shot. I personally don't want to see Fitch fight Shields. It would end up being a contest for top position with a total of 3 punches thrown.
Honestly, I believe that Dana White is showing Fitch that if you don't want to fight your training partner and you wanna challenge Dana publicly about it, he'll put you in a match where you have everything to lose.
Cos he aint gained 150lb and changed his name to Brock lesnar. UFC isn't all about the talent. it should be from a purists point of view but it aint.
I completely agree.
I love Dana and find myself defending him a lot, but I don't like how he's handled the Fitch situation. Fitch should get Shields and if not Shields, he should be fighting someone in a title contention match for the winner of whoever Shields fights for the title.
fitch and sheilds should fight for number 1 contender spot. What a grapple top level grappling match that would be.
Which is bull. I hate it man. I understand the guys who say it's your job and you have to do what you got to do but.... if that's his boy and he doesn't want to fight him, he shouldn't have to. He is clearing out the division along with GSP. He deserves a shot regardless if he fights Kos or not.
dats true and i agree with wat u said but y is fitch da only one getting punished for this...kos dont wanna fight him too
fitch and dana had a dissagrement over signing over the rights to his image for the ufc game i doubt fitch will ever get another title shot he has already beaten almost everyone worth fighting at 170 the just kept giving he fights hoping he will lose
Exactly!
Man Dana and Joe Silva must think Jon Fitch sucks
big step down for fitch o.O
even if (when) he wrestles his victory it shouldn't mean anything at all to the division, how can he expect a titleshot with a UD over a newblood who's 2-1
first fight on the superbowl card that isnt interesting
He should be No.1 without question.At least let him fight Shields!
The man deserves another shot!!!!!!!!!! Give it to him!!!!!!!!!!
In my opinion for him to get a title shot he will have to finish him in devastating fashion b/c shields will definatly get it before him if he dont
and Condit looked amazing in his last fight i dont get why he wudnt fight fitch but W.E
Yes this is crap. Fitch should get another shot. This is a big step down, DW should have feed him sheilds. That would have been a small step down, instead of this big 1.
definetly
if you're fitch
how the **** aren't you fighting top comp
he should get gsp if gsp wins
if kos wins, he should bump to mw
if not that, he should get shields
shields did NOTHING to earn his shot
1 ****ing win?
wowww
if not shields, then condit
if not condit, then at least kampman or dan hardy
but those would both be bs since fitch is coming of 98324902 wins and they're both off losses
gah, this is so corupt
ufc caring about "champ vs champ" rather than "best vs best"
once again the 2nd best ww in the world will have to wait
...at least he's fighting again SEMI soon though
yeah "weak" it
let's see your replies
fitch is the #2 ww in the world
you can't tell me he doesn't deserve the best of the best
SHARP, SHARP, and SHARP. You are on point.
I'm gonna play devils advocate here because he has gone to decision in his last 8 fights, hasn't finished a guy since 2007, and besides that upkick to alves, has never finished a top level fighterr in his career. I'm not one of these fans who complains about wrestling or not finishing fights, cause i'm sure fitch is trying, but really what makes anyone else think that if he got a shot against GSP, it woudn't go down the exact same way it did the first time?
Also, just because Jake Ellenberger doesn't have a big name, it doesn't mean he is not top competition. Personally I don't care for the matchmakers putting this fight together tho, I woudl have loved to see fitch vs condit cause I think that could have solidified Jon Fitch for a title shot just based on Condits style.
no need for weaks i completely agree sharp
I sharped ya because if John fitch doesn't want to fight Kos then who cares if he jumps up a weight class. that should make people respect him for having balls. I think it's cool that he has a good enough friendship with someone to not set their career in the balance of his domination. Why does everyone cry if he says he'll move divisions?
Your exactly right. Everyone knows this whether they want to admit it or not. It's all bullcrap UFC politics and money, that's all.
They want GSP to fight Shields, period.
Fitch is the #1 contender and should HAVE to fight GSP or KOS, whoever wins. If he does not want to fight Kos, tough sh*t.
At the very least he should fight Condit.
I'll reply on this even though I didn't hit weak on it.
In my opinion, Fitch does not deserve another title shot against GSP. The reason being that since his loss, all his matches have gone to a decision. He wrestles great, no denying that. I just don't think he's done enough to improve himself to get another shot at GSP.
On the other hand, I KNOW Shields doesn't deserve one. I'm sure the only reason he will get one is because it was worked out in his contract before joining the ufc.
The real question is... Who actually deserves a title shot? I honestly don't know.
Hardy got ktfo after a ton of shit talking about Condit.
Condit is on a good comeback and could be up there.
Matt Hughes has been on a tear as of late and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get one if he finishes BJ Penn.
Shields needs to learn how to throw punches. If he can't get the takedown, he's toast. His boxing skills are very weak.
I vote for Nick Diaz! Bring that thug into the ring and let GSP teach him some humility. I know it won't happen anytime soon but we can dream, right?
so wat happens if fitch fights gsp and loses again...does he get a title shot every 5-6 fights or wat
If he keeps winning thats how it goes.
if he earns it and proves he's the #1 contender, yeah.
why would you give a lesser opponent who can't beat fitch a shot?
this is good news. Dana is throwing low ranked fighters at Fitch so he can stay active get a few wins and evenetually get a second shot at the title, which he should have earned 2 fights ago
It should have been Fitch vs GSP in TUF 12 not kos and Dana does not do Fitch any favours.
i think condit vs fitch would be cooler
This is simple. Fitch is taking another fight to see whether or not his buddy can beat GSP. The mistake is he should HAVE TO face the winner of GSP/Kos because he is without a doubt the #1 contender, regardless of the whole Shields situation.
if Fitch loses, then is is out of title hunt for a while
if he wins a decsion, then he is still in the holding pattern.
so lose-lose either way
but if Ellenberger wins at all, he is in the title hunt quickly
so win-win for him If he can win
a loss to Fitch wouldn't do that much harm if it is by decsion
so win-win again
The only upside for Fitch is to win by stoppage
sub, TKO or KO
which means getting out of the shallow water and taking chances
they should of had fitch and shields fight instead of giving shields the shot right away
I expect good things from Ellenberger. He has a solid record and his debut loss is forgivable imo... Not only was it his first UFC bout, It was a split decision and it was to Condit. I do not doubt his ability to win, but I am admittedly bummed about the likelihood of Fitch laying on him for three rounds, resulting in his second loss with the promotion.
i wanted to see a john fitch and carlos condit fight but thats a good fight too