Jon Fitch New Attitude On Title Shot?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/11/fitch-has-new-attitude-about-ufc-title-shot.html

“I’m not going to cry about it,” said Fitch. “If I’ve failed to convince the UFC, Dana White, and the fans that I’m overwhelmingly the No. 1 contender and that I absolutely should be fighting for the belt, then I take that as my own responsibility. It’s my own fault. If people are dissatisfied, then I’m going to correct that.”

Fitch said he’s had to come to terms with how he’s been perceived as a fighter up to this point.

“It kind of was a little bit of a recent revelation [for me],” said Fitch, who’s gone the distance nine times during his 13-1 run in the promotion. “There wasn’t an overwhelming rush of support after the Alves fight. That was kind of eye-opening. I handily beat the No. 3 [fighter] in the world, and people are still not willing to thrust me into competition with GSP. Something’s missing.”

Fitch said he hasn’t thought of himself as a commodity in the past, though that’s quickly changing.

“It comes down to making money,” he said. “If they don’t think they can make money off you, then they’re not going to give you those fights.”

So I wonder if we will see Fitch come out guns blazing in his Jake Ellenberger fight or what. It's interesting that he talks about this and wants to address it.  But I could also see that once you actually step foot in the cage and the fight starts, that you go back to your comfort zone and the way that you know how to fight.

a lot of it comes down to the fact that fitch doesn't seem to hit that hard.  he has one win by KO/TKO in the UFC, and that was four and a half years ago.  considering he's had almost every fighter he faced underneath him on the ground for an extended period, he should have finished at least a couple of them by strikes on the ground.  off the top of my head, i can't even think of anyone fitch has cut badly with an elbow.  that should be his bread and butter finish, considering the way he likes to fight.

Jon Fitch is far more deserving of a title shot than anyone else of the 170 roster. I understand Shields passing him over since it's a bout that hasn't happened yet, but Kos is little different than Fitch. Fitch is a monster at 170, if he beats Ellenberger and would like to see him in a contender match up, or even just the title shot after Shields. There are a lot of people out there moving towards a title shot at 170 who haven't had one yet. That is a big problem for a guy like Fitch.

One interesting thing about all this is that Fitch vs GSP 1 was completely awesome.  Fitch got quite a beatdown but it was probably the best fight and most competitive opponent GSP has had in recent history.  If Fitch is at all improved since last time, this might be the most compelling fight the UFC can put together right now, outside of GSP vs Anderson Silva.

Problem is that they don't know how to sell or market the fight because so many people think Fitch is boring. 

Fitch vs. GSP was my favorite GSP fight of all time.

i'm sorta partial to gsp vs. sherk myself, but that's neither here nor there.

that fight's a lesson in using elbows from the top for jon fitch.

yeah but do you want to see GSP vs Sherk 2?  that was just a mauling and wasn't competitive.

Not interested in seeing Fitch fight.  Fitch Alves was so hyped and a big letdown.  St Pierre needs to fight Anderson Silva! No more rematches with people he will beat again.

knowing what we know today they wouldn't even schedule it.  but at the time it was a great matchup.

gsp was a -300 favorite coming in, but that's because sherk had been out of the UFC for 2 years and all the money was coming in on gsp.  sherk was 28-1-1 at the time, with the lone loss to matt hughes, and the hardcores were calling it much closer to even.  i guess in that case the smart money was dumber than the dumb money.

in any case, i remember a lot of electricity at the start of that fight.  it was exciting to see gsp dominate that way.  same level of anticipation came with the trigg fight.

@Dominic, I'm not big on GSP vs Anderson. I know they are both the best in their respected divisions but GSP is really too small. The guy is not as big as people think, he's been at about 183 lbs his entire WW career he said he was at his biggest against Alves and he was still under 190. Where Anderson is closer 200+ fighting weight. GSP hasn't even reached Matt Hughes' defense record yet and we are already talking about him moving up. He hasn't fought Shields yet, If Condit gets another win or 2 he can get in there as a legit contender. Legacies are built on longevity of a champion. Really there isn't much benefit for Anderson to take the fight at all. If he wins it's because GSP is a naturally smaller man not because he's a better fighter. If GSP wins it makes the entire MW division look bad. It would also leave the WW division without a champion and likely Fitch holding the title since no one outside of GSP has been able to beat him yet. 

Someone will likely come a long to beat GSP at some point, and the longer GSP hangs on to his title the more that win will mean. Just half a year ago people were talking about how there was no one left for BJ at 155. Then along comes little Frankie Edgar and he beats Penn. Everyone claimed this win was a fluke and BJ took him lightly and then the second fight, and Edgar beats him worse. What is really better for GSP to move up to MW and try and test himself there, or to become the longest reigning WW champion in history and to build a defense legacy that won't and couldn't be matched for a very long time. MMA needs champions like Anderson and like GSP who seem untouchable. Everyone has this Champion vs Champion thing from boxing but it really wasn't different weight divisions it was different sanctioning body champions in the same weight class. When they were a different weight class the difference was often just 5 lbs. or maybe 8 lbs. The only time MMA will have champion vs champion is when the UFC buys out another Org like when they bought Pride and Henderson vs Rampage, and Henderson vs Silva were to unify the Pride and UFC belts, and how Henderson/Pettis vs Edgar/Maynard will be to unify the WEC and UFC belts. 

Did it really take Jon Fitch 14 fights in the UFC to realize that he is in the entertainment business?

BigJ has some good points.

At the end of the day UFC is trying to sell PPVs.  A fight with Anderson Silva could do mega business if the timing was right, but it could also destroy GSP's aura if he loses badly. 

As long as the UFC can keep finding welterweight fights they can sell, I think they'll stick to that safer path.  GSP/Koscheck 2 they can sell big time.  GSP/Shields they can get away with.  If Condit picks up a nice win they can set that up, and keep raking in the $$$.

I think it's a straw-man argument where Fitch is concerned, set up so he can continue to look like a victim. The UFC could certainly sell GPS/Fitch II. All they have to do is keep talking about how the only guy in the division that has beaten Fitch is GSP and he's out to avenge his loss.

For Fitch to get a title shot: 1) Just keep winning. Eventually the fans will catch on and get loud about it. 2) Finish someone. Doesn't matter how, but get it done. His problem is that he doesn't really TRY to finish. He's content to let the finish come to him, which it never does at that level. 3) Fight Koscheck.

Poor guy deserve the shot, but I kinda like his new attitude.  He also recently put his name in for coaching the ultimate fighter. I think thats a good move, it gives him time for Kos vs GSP thing to play out and gets his name out there.

fitch needs finishes, raray said it right, dana will give anybody a title shot if it can generate buzz and excitement

I think that Fitch is the Okami of the 170 division. He can keep winning and win huge but because of his style and not finishing fights, I mena before his fight with GSP he was on an 8 fight win streak! At the time that was the highest win streak in the UFC and not many people knew that until they had to start pushing for this fight. And to skelliher it was my one of my favourite fights of GSP as well. But I agree with raray he's got to finish a fight, and if he finishes BJ that will be huge!

Fitch has never fought anyone like BJ Penn, people write him off because he lost to Edgar.

Edgar had the perfect style to beat him, Fitch will bring nothing on the feet BJ has not seen a million times.

This is true, but I think that the other person that can beat BJ is a strong dominant wrestler who is bigger than him. I mean yes the fight starts on the feet, and yes BJ did beat Hughes who was also a strong dominant wrestler stronger than him, but I don't think Fitch will stand and trade with him. I think he'll just shoot as soon as possible, skip the hands. Now i will say that BJ is amazing, no doubt about that! But until he pulls it off on Saturday i'm sticking with Fitch all day. I'll apologize on Sunday if BJ does pull it off though lol

I think Fitch can do it, not saying he can't. He has the tools, the gameplan, everything he needs...

My gut is telling me to pick Penn. Earlyer on I was saying the exact same thing, but I was just thinking that Frankie Edgar is just a weird fighter lmao. I think he can do it, I would say 50/50 odds. Should be a good fight though.

i think people wanna to see new title fights not the same guys getting beat by gsp over and over againdana wants exciting interesting fights and jon fitch isnt exactly the most exciting fighter