Quick Quote: Jon Fitch has "full focus" on Penn, not the Title
Posted on January 23, 2011, 10:09 PM by Joey Santosus"B.J. is such a dangerous opponent. He's a legend. He's such a huge name in this sport. For me to give him anything less than 100 percent of my full focus and attention would be greatly detrimental to me winning this fight. So I have to just focus on him, and not worry about anything that's been said in the past, or anything that's been promised in the past."
"I'm extremely hard to finish and I have a huge gas tank and historically that's a big problem for B.J. Penn. If he doesn't have the cardio to keep up with my pace, there's no way he's going to last. If I went out there and tried to match BJ's timing, or match BJ's speed, it would never happen. And a lot of guys fall into that trap. It's more about setting your pace and dictating the action, dictating what's going on in the fight. That way you're not reacting to things, you're making the faster guy react to you. If you're good enough you can set traps, make them react the wrong way. - For complete interview by Tim Marchman, visit Sportsillustrated.cnn.com
Perennial Welterweight contender Jon Fitch will look to continue building his case for a title shot when he meets BJ Penn at UFC 127. Fitch (23-3) was expected to be next in line to face division champ GSP following his latest unanimous decision victory over Thiago Alves back in August. However, he was once again passed over when recent UFC signee Jake Shields was named number-one-contender in his place. An impressive victory over an opponent of Penn's caliber would undoubtedly make Fitch hard to deny.
The Welterweight showdown between Jon Fitch and BJ Penn will headline the stacked UFC 127 card, while Aussie George Sotiropoulos is set to face Dennis Siver in the co-main event attraction of the night. The event is scheduled to take place February 27th from the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia and will mark the second trip the promotion has taken to the land down under.
Photo: Dave Mandel | Sherdog.com
Comments
I respect Fitch. Yeah yeah, boring blah blah blah, all that crap aside, did you see the beating he took by GSP? Heart of a lion. Anyway, back to the main topic, I think he can take Penn if he gets him to the ground.
Fitch can grind him out for 3 rounds, but he will not finish BJ.
A lot of people feel that the only reason Fitch doesn't have more finishes with how dominat a grappler he is on the ground is because he doesn't go for them. I think he'll try to do it in this fight. He could give BJ a good fight submission-wise, but if he successfully finishes, I predict a 3rd round GnP TKO. Honestly though, finishing is not required to have an "impressive" victory over BJ. Merely managing to control him for 3 rounds is a feat in and of itself.
Thiago could not Finish Fitch what are the chances Bj will .
Bj is a small WW while Fitch is the biggest .
I see Fitch taking a Decision and finally earning his second title fight.
and after that i would love to see BJ vs Serra!!
Haha BJ small for a ww? Size does not matter my friend and I got BJ by rear naked choke round 2.
Cant compare Thiago n Penn...not sure if ur talking about Alves or Paulo but neither of them hve BJJ skills like Penn n neither of them hve boxing better then Penn, Alves has overall better striking but just boxing I would give the edge to Penn, and also Penn has somone of the heaviest hands in MMA he could KO or sub Fitch
People said the exact same thing about bj, already a non determind cardio weak lightweight gaining weight to fight one of the best wrestlers in matt hughes and look how that ended up. People said the same shit, and I agree fitch is a great wrestler but his standup is not even close to penns level and unlike thiago alves, bj is a world bjj champion. So even on his back hes very dangerous and I could see fitch lying on him for the fight, but I could also see bj catching him or subbing him if he comes in shape
size does matter it is not the most important thing but it does make a difference especially when it comes to grappling. bj has the better hands and better pure bjj but i think fitch has just too high of a work rate. too strong and is skilled enough in all areas to keep himself out of trouble.
fitch late third round tko more due to bj giving up than really being hurt
I'd say size is actually the most important factor. This is the reason why fighters are separated by weight divisions and not skill divisions.
fedor and Edgar have proven size dont matter
PS: When fighters are equally skilled then size matters.
Listen to him you keyboard warriors. SIZE DOES NOT MATTER. You weaking me is a joke.
I compete at 170 and am only 5'9". My last oponnent I faught was 6'1"...hmm who won? ME. I used my wrestling and leg kicks to win and eventually subed him on the ground.
a rematch of a fight who last 30 sec or 2 min, it's understandable. but a 25 min beatdown. what he is gonna to in a rematch against gsp, finish him?
gsp vs fitch 1 is one of my favorite fights. Fitch showed great heart and even though he didnt pose much threat to GSP he did the best out of every1. Both fighters have evolved. I would love to see a rematch
i think fitch's striking is a little underrated, im not saying hes better than bj in striking but i think he could hold his own, i think fitch is gonna go hard the first 2 rounds to tire bj out, but hopefully he wont get caught while doing so, i really think fitch deserves a second title shot, bj flashed ko'ed hughes who is (no offense) way past his prime i would say, we dont know which bj will be fightin cuz the hughes fight didnt really show us anything, i think fitch's size and ability to control will be the deciding factor
"It's more about setting your pace and dictating the action, dictating what's going on in the fight" sounds to me like he just wants to control BJ which hes gonna try to accomplish on the ground so i doubt that hes gonna look for the finish and will probably just grind out another decision
No fitch, what you are going to do is watch the tape and study the deconstruction of Penn by GSP and then hype yourself up later on how to beat a man you copy.
say what you want, but the guy makes everyone else (minus gsp) look silly.
yeah, he's not throwing showtime kicks or taking huge risks, that's cause he's smart. he's constantly trying to win the fight though, and hurt his opponent via elbow strikes and what not.
i'm surprised he hasn't postured up and rained down a bone crushing elbow like jones v. vera
I am one of those crazy people who actually like John Fitch.
After getting beat up by GSP, my respect for him only increased. People talk about GSPs jab after the Koscheck fight, as if it was newly minted (by Freddie Roach), but GSP used his jab effectively in the fight with Fitch and Penn--and it made a big difference.
When BJ starts a fight--his hands are like stone, and his punching is laser-beam accurate. In the first round, BJ is almost impossible to take down.
GSP knew this, and he tied BJ up with clinches--tiring him out. When BJ gets tired, his punches no longer have the power, and he is vulnerable to takedowns.
Fitch is an elite wrestler and a BJJ black belt--with decent, but not elite striking. Fitch is almost impossible to submit. BJ has elite striking and is a BJJ black belt.
The key to this fight is whether John Fitch can survive the first round, tire out BJ, and then take BJ down in later rounds. Count the times John Fitch has ever been finished?
As far as this fight goes, I think Fitch will win. he has established himself as clearly the #2 WW by quite a margin and BJ will have to be at his very best to stand a chance. I personally wish BJ would carry on at LW especially now WEC has been amalgamated into the UFC.
Sorry--that should be Jon Fitch--not John
good card