Jon Fitch Is Getting Screwed, or Is He?
by Nate Wilcox on Jan 29, 2009 6:06 PM EST
in MMA Events
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This post from Steve Cofield sums up the conventional wisdom on Jon Fitch's plight in being shunted onto the UFC 94 undercard:
He's slated for the non-televised undercard and may not reach the televised portion unless he produces a spectacular result. It seems odd. Fitch just fought Georges St. Pierre for the UFC welterweight title in August and yet no PPV appearance in his next fight? Is this payback for Fitch's highly publicized tiff with the UFC and president Dana White back in November? Fitch isn't thinking about the PPV situation and knows he can't control it:
"I can sit and complain all I want to about stuff but it's not going to do anything and it's not going to change anything."
Fitch was fired by the UFC for a day when he and several other fighters from American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose couldn't come to terms with the organization on rights involving a video game. White flipped out and said he didn't want to work with fighters who were working against the UFC. The rift was patched up the next day and two months later Fitch says he realizes this is the way the real world works:
"I'm sure that everyone out there who's got a job might have ideas that they would change their job and make it better. But they're not the boss, so until I get into a position where I make decisions I gotta keep my mouth shut and just fight."
But here's a different take from Watch Kalib Run:
Perhaps Fitch is simply the victim of the Super Bowl card being too good?
Only five fights are scheduled for pay-per-view. The epic main event between George St. Pierre and B.J. Penn withers that number down to four. Also the Lyoto Machida Thiago Silva fight is a great bout to have right before the main event, it pits two top-ten light heavyweights against each other. The potential title shot on the line for Machida gives the fight an extra story line.
The UFC usually pits two exciting lightweights against each other to start off their pay-per-view events. This role is filled by Clay Guida and Nate Diaz. That leaves just two spots on the televised card.
Here is where it gets tricky, you have Jon Fitch, Karo Parisyan and Stephan Bonnar and they are all fighting against relative unknowns, how do you pick which two make the televised card?
Stephan Bonnar has been on an eighteen month hiatus recovering from an injury. Clearly the UFC wants to reintroduce the UFC viewers to a once promising light heavyweight as well as TUF season one finalist. An understandable motive for the time and money that has been invested in Bonnar, leaving just one fight for two fighters.
Comparing Karo and Fitch is akin to comparing a Hummer to an Excursion, one is just hands down better, in this case Fitch. However there is a difference in competition in these two fights. Fitch is fighting Akihiro Gono, a journeyman fighter. Karo on the other hand is fighting Dong Hyun Kim who is 13-0-1 and a rising talent. Also Karo is on the cusp of falling into irrelevancy. Making the Parisyan-Kim bout far more significant then Fitch-Gono. Just look at the odds, Fitch is favored at a whopping -600.
Jon Fitch can still make it on to the televised card with a dominating quick victory, but that is dependent on there being a quick victory in the five scheduled bouts. In the end Fitch may of just been a victim of a Super Bowl card truly being 'Super'.
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WKR has this right
This is really kind of a rebound fight for Fitch (who, after 8 straight wins and going 25 minutes with GSP, should absolutely shred Gono), whereas Bonnar (a perennial company favorite) is making his comeback fight against an undefeated phenom in Jon Jones and Karo’s doing the same thing (though I’m less impressed with Kim than Jones).
by Derek Suboticki on Jan 29, 2009 6:09 PM EST reply actions
Josh Koscheck vs. Georges St. Pierre UFC 74 Respect, billed as the number 1 contender spot.
Koscheck loses, his next fight at UFC 82 is on the undercard (eventually televised) against Dustin Hazelett.
Also notable to mention that Kim is a potential prospect for the UFC’s expansion into Korea as they have expressed interest in going there for a show somewhere down the line.
by Stefan Manojlovic on Jan 29, 2009 6:20 PM EST reply actions
Kim makes it on the maincard in Korea regardless of whether or not he’s on the main card in the states. So, that really has no bearing as to why Fitch and Gono are busted down to the undercard.
by George Lucas on Jan 29, 2009 6:54 PM EST up reply actions
Yes but fans are watching in Korea, Kim being on the maincard in the U.S is good exposure for him. So when the time does come the UFC heads to Korea and the fans there see Kim they’ll know who he is, which some already do. It’s all well and good Kim being a fellow Korean but is that alone enough to warrant cheers from the crowd? It’s much easier to support a fighter who you’ve seen before, a fighter you’ve seen win against a well known Welterweight name like Karo Parisyan on one of the most anticpated cards in UFC history. And if that fighter is the same nationality as you then it makes it even easier to like him.
by Stefan Manojlovic on Jan 29, 2009 7:51 PM EST up reply actions
After the first sentence, none of what you just posted has anything to do with Kim being on the main card in the United States as long as he’s on the main card in Korea.
by George Lucas on Jan 29, 2009 7:57 PM EST up reply actions
Basically if you’re the UFC and you want to hold a show in South Korea, you have a South Korean fighter who is a "rising talent" who could be a possible future title contender and if you televise his fights, fans in his native country will get too see him and become familiar with him and then hopefully start to support him. Or do you put his fights on the prelims which most people will not see and when you hold your event in Korea then put the guy on the main card and say "Oh well nobody here has seen him fight before but I hope they cheer for him anyway just off the fact he’s the same nationality." Which is the safest option do you think? You say UFC 94 is a U.S card which it is but I think you’re forgetting that people outside of the U.S will be watching it as well. I’m not saying this is fact that Kim is on the main card of UFC 94, just coming up with a simple logical possibility and if you can’t understand it then I think you need to get back to doing what you do best and that’s butchering the Star Wars franchise.
by Stefan Manojlovic on Jan 29, 2009 8:30 PM EST up reply actions
what you’re missing is that when the UFCs are broadcast in Korea, they always show Kim’s fights no matter where he is placed on the card.
I thought all broadcasts are the same, whether in the US or some other country. Do you have a first hand info on this? Do they do same with other countries? I know Vera is on the undercard on his next fight, so I’m guessing I’ll be watching him fight then?
Watch Kalib Run should rename itself Doesn’t Watch Fights if it thinks Dong Hyun Kim or Karo Parisyan will be more interesting to watch than Akihiro Gono or Jon Fitch.
Kim was atrocious against Brown and Karo put the crowd to sleep against Chonan because his clinch was neutralized (just like Kim will do).
Meanwhile Fitch’s last fight was a fight of the year candidate and Gono hasn’t had a bad fight in the UFC.
That Gono vs Dan Hardy fight was really painful to watch IMO. Gono did everything he could, and won on my scorecard, but Hardy was deadset on winning a point fight and not reaching any kind of definitive conclusion. Was a pretty bad matchup IMO.
I enjoyed watching Cane vs Sokoudjou, Davis vs Kelly, Lytle vs Taylor, and especially Miller vs Baron more than that one.
Admittedly the Gono fight was much better than Bisping vs Leben or Jardine vs Vera. Boy those were stinkers.
Hey at least Gono got rewarded for his efforts against Hardy – http://image.blog.livedoor.jp/gono/imgs/8/a/8ae782e3.jpg
And as for GSP/Fitch being fight of the year candidate i gotta disagree. It was too one sided to be considered a competitive fight. Not to say Fitch can’t be excting but he got manhandled by GSP for 5 straight rounds. Hardly a fight if you ask me, more of a beatdown.
by Stefan Manojlovic on Jan 29, 2009 8:02 PM EST up reply actions
I think my point was there is mroe intrigue in the Karo fight then the Fitch fight. Fitch should easily win, where as with Karo’s past and Kim’s potential that fight is more “important”.
By the way I would prefer to watch Fitch fight, but I just tried to look at it form a different view.
watchkalibrun.com
I've always thought this.....
The only bout you can argue is Jones/Bonnar. I think the fact that they are wanting to market both Jones and Bonnar is the key. Gono is as the article said, at best, a journeyman. If Fitch (like every other fighter) wants to get on TV they have to take care of business in short order.
When comparing the match up styles of the two (Fitch and Karo) from a broadcast aspect, I can see it making more sense to have the two judoka fighters. Since the UFC has been using the stat figures more frequently, they could use that to educate the fans about Judo and its use in MMA. Not that they couldn’t get stats for Fitch but all they can go off of is his winning streak, wrestling, and GSP fight, none of which are that attractive IMO. Hopefully they don’t neglect the Judo and use it to further the knowledge for the casual fan.
The fight would be broadcast
If ZUFFA weren’t cheapskates who won’t buy more than 3 hours of PPV time or distribute the undercard to network or cable TV. But that means that ZUFFA can’t bilk its customers for a couple more dollars to check in on UFC on Demand
Gimme 1 Round!
Honestly, too much is being read into Fitch being screwed, Sure he was beefing with Dana but that is water under the bride. From what I see, everything seems to have been worked out. Koscheck signed a new deal, Cain Velesquez was not regulated to undercard on UFC 17. Fitch happens to be on the undercard. Remember, Diego Sanchez, Ultimate Fighter Winner, was on the undercard of UFC 82, Koscheck was on that undercard as well. Kongo was who was in the co-main event at that event ended up being on the undercard at his next fight at UFC 86. Too make a long story short, I wouldnt read too much into Fitch being screwed
by The Bronzeville Bully on Jan 29, 2009 7:34 PM EST reply actions
Watch Kalib Run is for haters. Why not name it after something positive about the sport, like ViewAndersonKeeing or something.
WKR is just overanalyzing things. If UFC wanted Fitch to be featured prominently, he would be on the PPV. If the card got too crowded, they could easily move fights around to nearby shows, like UFN 17. After Arlovski got buried on a weak UFC 82 card, I’m surprised anyone can entertain the idea that Fitch being in a dark match is NOT a power thing. Is it punishment? Not necessarily. But they’re sending a message, to Fitch and all the other fighters in a similar position: you don’t say “no” to the UFC.
I think Gono is much better than just a journeyman, I predict he wins over Fitch. Fitch is being punished, that’s why he’s on the undercard. He deserves it, to publicly come out and trash Dana and the organization is idiotic. My guess is that he will be released the day after the fight.
Since 2002- 30 fights, Gono has only lost to Yuki Kondo, Shogun, Dan Henderson, Dennis Kang and then this last controversial one to Hardy.
That was a good article until the part about Fitch being better than Karo, that is simply not true. Karo is a better fighter and has been involved in much better and exciting fights that Fitch ever has. Karo is a pretty known UFC while most fans couldn’t pick Fitch out of a line up before his fight with GSP.
The real question here is…who cares? Really, I like Fitch, but I could give a damn wether or not he was fighting on the main card…he just lost a title shot, he can work his way back up or GTFO.
by Kaleb Kelchner on Jan 30, 2009 12:02 AM EST reply actions
Good Argument but ...
Aren’t you taking away a chance to promote Fitch for the possibility you might get something out of Bonnar, Karo or Dong Hyun Kim? Wouldn’t you want to take the sure thing and put these guys on the under card to first figure out if they are legit before given them the PPV time slot? Bonnar might not be healthy, Karo might be himself and Dong Kim could just be fluff with hype.
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