While he hasn't looked stellar outside the UFC, the outrage of the firing of Jon Fitch was enormous. He was so well-respected as a top fighter in the welterweight division, who proved to be a true litmus test for whoever he faced. It's well documented that his fighting style wasn't fan friendly and put him on the receiving end of several jokes. It became so popular that Dana White even made reference to it during one interview with Ariel Helwani. Despite his grinding style of fighting, he consistently wins fights and was 14-1 at one point. Eventually his fight against BJ Penn ended in a draw and Johny Hendricks surprisingly knocked him out in matter of 12 seconds. People started to question if Fitch can be a contender, although that seemed to be the least of concerns at the time. He came back ten months later at UFC 153 and beat highly touted prospect Erick Silva in what was the fight of the night. A Jon Fitch fight ending up being fight of the night? It happened and seemed to have rejuvenated him. Everyone believed his status in the UFC was safe, even after he was dominated for three rounds by Demian Maia. Then he was the big name on a massive list of released fighters and their was major outrage. A fringe top ten welterweight, who is 14-3-1 and had lost only two out of his last three fights was being cut. It still never made sense to me and never will. Fitch's release was unjustified, when looking at who are the top fighters in the world. His release began a wave of people believing that the UFC is starting to favor exciting fighters regardless if they win or lose rather than successful fighters. Nobody saw a big name like him being fired, which makes it the most shocking firing.
I cover the sport of MMA, along with being a fan of the sport since 2008. I've been covering the sport for two years now, along with interviewing several fighters. I also write on MMASucka.com. You can follow me on twitter @Allen_Strk or email at AStrk19@gmail.com
