JON FITCH APPRECIATION THREAD

I won't say I told you so but...

Fitch is awesome.

Ellenberger is the only UFC welterweight who makes me flinch whenever he throws a punch.

Dan Henderson, Jake Ellenberger and Shane Carwin are the only fighters that do that to me.

Jake Shields makes me cringe when he throws a punch ;)

It still to this day baffles me at how a guy who has the privilege to train with Nick and Nate Diaz has the ****** stand up Shields does ...

meh it goes both ways. I mean Nick and Nate both of which through out there careers showed a weakness in TDD and yet they trained with Shields who entie game in based on taking people down.  I know that Nate has since improved this aspect greatly in recent outings so it no longer holds true for him but it did for years.  Nick has yet to prove he has any sort of real take down defense.

That's a more understandable weakness, Shields is probably the grappler with the worst wrestling game in the UFC.

I disagree. His wrestling game is not bad at all. He was capable of getitng Henderson down over and over again. he pretty much gotten every single opponent down he tried to except a select few. GSP who is quite possibly the best wrestler in MMA history.  Akamia (who shields got down once or twice) who had prior to his shields fight 100% TDD and ellenburger who to my knowledge also has 100% TDD in the UFC.

Henderson gassed in that fight, and honestly, has overrated wrestling these days (and i love the guy). I don't think Akiyama fought a wrestler in the UFC until Shields either. Jake can take down most non wrestlers, but he has trouble getting a guy like Ellenberger to the floor.

exactly what Prodigy said.  I am pretty sure I could have taken hendo down that night.  He looked like **** after the first round. Maybe the single-worst performance of his career.

Shields has awful wrestling, he shoots from a mile out without setting it up and he doesnt drive through his takedowns.

:"Henderson gassed in that fight, and honestly, has overrated wrestling these days (and i love the guy). "
Shield got him down in the first round....and then did so every other round.  So The gassing is kinda  copout.


I don't think Hendo wrestling is overrated at all. I mean look at what he did to Rafael Cavalcante. He was taking him down at will and Rafael was stuffing King Mo who is an amazing wrestler.

"I don't think Akiyama fought a wrestler in the UFC until Shields either."


He stuffed Bipsen, Allen belcher and leben if not mistaken, non of which are pushovers in the take down department.  Also he one of the best Judo guys in MMA history. He was stuffing people significantly larger then him. He would likely stuff almost any welter weight in the division outside GSP.


 "Jake can take down most non wrestlers, but he has trouble getting a guy like Ellenberger to the floor"


He took dan henderson down countless times, so your statment is simply wrong.  And the ellenberger fight did not last long enough to really judge and Ellenberger has 100% take down success in the UFC if not mistaken. 


Jake not the best take down artist but he is certainly not the worst. His vast history of taking guys down and controlling them is evidence of this.

* Edited at 10.20.2012, 6:38 PM ET *

@Franklin880088 "He was capable of getitng Henderson down over and over again."


That's an accomplishment or something?

For a completely grappling oriented game, Jake Shields' wrestling is not good. He shoots from miles, and rather than driving through his opponent (like Live2wrestle said) he instead pushes his opponent against the cage and then tries to take them down from there.

If i remember right, the only time Dan got on top of Feijao was from a scramble, which is something he is awesome at. His TDD is not that great, Shogun outwrestled him FFS.

Bisping, Leben, and Belcher are not wrestlers.

If I recall correctly, from what I read of the Henderson / Shields fight, Dan had a brutal weight cut.  Which presumably caused him to gas out much sooner than he normally would.  He has since renounced ever dropping down to MW ever again.  He just refuses to put his body through that much stress ever again.

very good stuff

Henderson is the most overrated wrestler in the history of mixed martial arts. He's elite in the Greco-Roman clinch but he can't stop a double leg from freakin' Jake Shields.

@Anik,

The only people to successfully stop Shields from taking them down in the last 10 years is Akiyama and GSP. I would say Ellenberger too... but Shields really didn't eve have a chance to try for one hahaha.

* Edited at 10.20.2012, 9:02 PM ET *

That is a stat that doesn't tell the full story. If Shields is lying on top of his opponent against the cage attempting a takedown for 15 minutes, he's bound to get his opponent down at least once. That isn't elite wrestling, it's elite persistence. Jake Shields lands 3.57 takedowns per 15 minutes. His takedown accuracy is 38%.

So? It's still a fact. The coaches, fighters, and even fans know what Jake Shields is going to do. It's not Jake's fault if the guys he fights aren't prepared for it. I'm not even a Jake Shields fan, but it baffles me when I see people's game plans against him.

* Edited at 10.20.2012, 9:34 PM ET *