As I’m sure you’ve already heard – because you can’t look at a Twitter or Facebook timeline without someone talking about it – the UFC today released 16 fighters from their roster, including perennial welterweight contender Jon Fitch.
For many of the 16 fighters released, the cuts were justified. Take Josh Grispi, for instance. The former WEC featherweight contender lost all four of his fights in the Octagon and therefore he was deemed expendable. OK, fair enough. Same with Vladimir Matyushenko, who is 42 years old and who has been finished in the first round in his last two fights. Those cuts, in my opinion, were justified.
There were other fighters such as Paul Sass and Che Mills who were inconsistent in the Octagon and got the boot. Sass was on a two-fight losing streak and Mills had lost two of his last three, so with the incoming flux of Strikeforce welterweights and lightweights, these two fighters were deemed expendable despite the fact each put on mostly exciting fights. I don’t necessarily agree with these guys getting cut, but then again, they weren’t performing, so I understand.
But then you have Jon Fitch.
If you follow me on Twitter (@mmadammartin if you don’t already), I’ve been very vocal about my feelings regarding the Fitch release. Let’s just say that I don’t agree with it at all, and feel that it’s one of the most boneheaded decisions the UFC has made in years.
Why would Zuffa cut Fitch, who is currently ranked No. 9 in their own official UFC rankings? What reason was there behind it?
Many have pointed to Fitch’s grappling-heavy style, which hasn’t exactly been fan friendly. Although he leaves the promotion with a an excellent 14-3-1 record, Fitch won 10 of those fights via grinding decision – “Fitching” as it is known – and his last finish came in 2007, nearly six years ago. But they will fail to point out that Fitch is second all-time in UFC history in total strikes landed. He has 2185, and the number 1 man in that category is none other than UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, who has 2188. BJ Penn is third at 1676.
(St-Pierre, by the way, has said on multiple occasions that Fitch, who he fought at UFC 87, was the toughest test he’s ever faced in the Octagon, and, for me at least, that ought to count for something.)
There are those who will point to Fitch’s 1-2-1 record over his last four bouts. But those same people will fail to mention that the two losses were to Johny Hendricks, the No. 1 contender, and Demian Maia, who very well could be the No. 2 contender. The draw was to Penn, but most agreed at the time that Fitch was robbed of a decision win. And the lone win he did get was a “Fight of the Night” victory over rising Brazilian star Erick Silva at UFC 153, which was his most exciting fight in years, and which seemed to trigger the rejuvenation of Fitch after he got one-punch KOed by Hendricks at UFC 141.
But he lost to Maia at UFC 156, and he was dominated for the whole fight, and it took away all the goodwill he had delivered to the UFC in his incredible performance against Silva. We all know the UFC and Fitch have butted heads in the past – most notably for him not signing off to be in the company’s video game years ago – but the UFC has worked with guys like Tito Ortiz and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson who were known to cause giant headaches for UFC president Dana White, although those guys definitely draw more than Fitch.
That money factor is why there will be those who point to Fitch’s 66K+ salary as the reason he got the boot. Sure, there are a handful of Fitch fans, but no one ever really gets too excited for a Jon Fitch fight. Maybe that’s too much money for the UFC to pay someone who’s not a huge draw, even if all he does is win. But considering the UFC is a multi-billion dollar company according to White himself, would 66K really be that big of a deal, especially if it’s being used to employ someone who is one of the 10 best people in the world at what they do? (Fitch is a top 10 welterweight.)
I don’t think so. And if this cut is going to be justified with the fact that female and Strikeforce fighters are coming into the UFC and roster space is thin, then that’s total BS, because there are at least 100 fighters on the UFC roster who deserved to be cut before Fitch was.
I don’t agree with what the UFC did today with Fitch and I don’t think the timing was good, either, considering UFC 157 and Ronda Rousey’s debut is just around the corner. This is just going to cast a nasty shadow over the next few days, and it just wasn’t necessary. If the UFC was going to cut Fitch, they should have waited until next Monday, but this should have never even been an option.
Hopefully White gives one of his candid answers when reporters ask him about this in Las Vegas this week, because it’s one of those things that just makes you scratch your head, and I would love to know just exactly why the UFC made the decision to cut Jon Fitch.
But at the end of the day, it’s the fight game and MMA is a brutal sport in more ways than one. And today’s news exemplified that once again.
