JON FITCH Interview: "I'M FINE WITH FIGHTING BJ AFTER I WIN"

[Submissionist]

By Percy Crawford | July 11, 2008

"I think being in his face and keeping pace with him, never going away, just always bothering him is the biggest thing. I don't want him to think he's going to set a pace that I can't hang with...he's never fought a fighter like me," stated UFC welterweight Jon Fitch as he talked about his upcoming clash with UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. You don't want to miss what else he had to say as he talks more about GSP and the fight. Plus, check out what he had to say about Josh Koscheck's win over Chris Lytle, Forrest Griffin's win over Quinton Jackson, the possibility of fighting BJ Penn and much more.

PC: How is training going for your UFC 87 fight against Georges St. Pierre?

JF: Training is going really good.

PC: Has it hit you yet Fitch that you are less than a month away from the biggest fight of your life?

JF: It's been hitting me the whole camp. I know how big of a deal this is, you know?

PC: Have you brought in any guys in particular to prepare for GSP or are you using the same guys you normally train with at AKA?

JF: The usual suspects. Jake Shields has been coming in quite a bit lately. He's got a big title fight coming up soon too for EliteXC. We're getting in 5 rounds of sparring quite a bit. Jake's probably got the best top control game of any fighter in the welterweight class in the world, that's for sure.

PC: Do you see a difference in St. Pierre since the Serra fight? You always see guys saying he's not willing to trade anymore since that fight.

JF: Honestly, no, because if you go back and look at his old fights, this myth of his standup, I don't know where it came from because he's never been like Chuck Liddell. He's always used his standup to get close to grapple and take it to the ground. The fans tend to create mythical creatures out of fighters so his standup is good, but he's always used it to emphasize his wrestling I think.

PC: People are already looking forward to BJ Penn vs. St. Pierre 2. Have you settled into this underdog role with some people looking over you?

JF: I've always been the underdog. I never get credit for any of my wins; that's just the way it is. I've gotten used to it. I don't really care. I beat up Shonie Carter and it was because he was too old. I beat Burkman and it was because he underestimated me and Thiago, it was because he had trouble cutting weight and it was a long time ago and he's a different fighter now. I never get credit for any of my wins so I don't really care.

PC: What do you think of Penn wanting you to sort of step aside and let him fight St. Pierre next?

JF: I don't really care. I'm fine with fighting BJ after I win this fight! My only thing is if BJ moves up in weight, he should have to give up his lightweight belt because I've been in that position before where I had to sit and wait for a year for a title shot while all of the other bullcrap that was going on with the top guys with the belt, you know? It's not fair to the other 55 pounders. The weight division has come a long way. It's pretty stacked and they have really talented guys that deserve title shots. It's not fair for them to have to sit and wait another 6 months or 8 months in order to get the opportunity. It backs everything up.

PC: You're right. Especially with Huerta and Florian fighting on the undercard of this event.

JF: Exactly! I think if these guys want to jump around weight classes, that's fine, but these guys should have to forfeit their belt to leave a weight class because it's not fair to everybody else.

PC: At UFC 86, your teammate, Josh Koscheck, got another huge victory. What are your thoughts on his progression as a fighter?

JF: He's progressing excellent. I'm very proud of him. He's tough and a great fighter. He got the job done with Lytle. Lytle is an extremely tough guy that almost got a couple of close chokes on Koscheck that made me sweat a little bit. Lytle is tricky man. He's not so much of a straight Jiu Jitsu guy, but he has a wrestling background. He's one of those guys that will hit submissions and chokes from strange angles that you're not used to seeing and he almost pulled out a couple of crazy chokes on Koscheck. Kos did a great job controlling that fight. I don't know why people boo him. I don't get it. He comes out and fights hard and is respectful. I don't know what it is man (laughing). There was a point where one of my training partners was sitting next to me watching the fight last weekend and Koscheck did something from side control; maybe an Americana. He tried some kind of move and they were booing him. Then we watch Forrest and Rampage's fight and Forrest did the same thing to Rampage and everyone started cheering. I was like, "What's going on?" I just don't get it. I think sometimes people are just kind of sheep and they are just following what everybody else does. A couple of people got mad at him from squirting Leben with the hose way back when and now they're just stuck on booing him. The weigh-ins were crazy because he got louder boos than anybody got cheers. The boos were louder for him than any of the cheers for Forrest and Rampage. I've never heard that before. Even when Chuck walked through and people saw him, it wasn't as loud as the boos were for Koscheck. I was like, "What the hell?" It's like this guy raped and murdered a whole church of nuns or something. It's weird man. I just don't get it.

PC: Anthony Johnson told me how hard you guys train at AKA. It's definitely showing in your performances. Swick just defeated Marcus Davis, you've been on a serious roll, Koscheck over Lytle and Josh Thomson over Melendez. How much has training at AKA helped you prepare for this fight?

JF: We also have Bobby Southworth who has a title for Strikeforce also. I owe my whole career to making the move to AKA. I think the biggest thing is the coaching environment we have over there right now. We run more like a college sports team than a gym. Most gyms are just a group of guys with a hand full of trainers and they come in and set their own workouts and they train in the same building, but it's not the same. We have a team atmosphere. We have one head guy and a bunch of assistants and everybody is there to work. We had Tommy Ortiz, who is Arizona State's head wrestling coach, and he came in and taught us technique for an hour and a half. We have Derek Yuen, who teaches Muay Thai at AKA, and he came in for an hour and a half to teach us Muay Thai techniques.

PC: So every day, you guys are like new MMA fighters learning new things basically.

JF: Yeah, we're just always learning something. We learn an art on our own and kind of mold it to where it fits mixed martial arts. That's another good thing that we do because so many people thinks mixed martial arts is a style. There are a bunch of styles that go into mixed martial arts and anybody that thinks they're going to study MMA and be successful, they're not; they're going to fail.

PC: Going back to UFC 86…it was a close fight. Who do you think won the fight between Griffin and Jackson?

JF: I think Forrest won, but I could see how someone would score it a draw because you have to take the belt from the champ. I think the 10-8 round in the 2nd, and it was definitely a 10-8 round, killed Rampage a little bit. The 3rd and 5th rounds were extremely close and could have gone either way, but overall, I think Forrest won.

PC: Is there any fight of GSP's that you are watching closely because the opponent he was facing had a similar style to you?

JF: I've watched all of his fights, but that's the beauty of this thing that people don't understand is he's never fought a fighter like me.

PC: I have a lot of guys coming up to me saying they're picking you in this fight. I was actually shocked.

JF: The support has been getting behind me lately. There are some haters, especially on my website, but all and all, I'm getting a lot of support from people. I have a very humble attitude. I don't talk shit and I just want to go out and fight man; that's all I want to do.

PC: Putting GSP's losses in perspective, there's been fighters that got him early in the fight. Is that one of your goals, to try to break him mentally early on?

JF: No, not break him early. I think being in his face and keeping pace with him, never going away, just always bothering him is the biggest thing. I don't want him to think he's going to set a pace that I can't hang with. I don't think that's…I've never had anybody do that to me. I've never had anybody set a pace that I couldn't control it.

PC: When we spoke before, you said it was going to be a bitch getting used to a 5 rounder. How has your body responded to that?

JF: I feel amazing. This week was a real pivotal week for me. Cardio-wise my body is a little bit sore, but I'm not fatigued or flat. I feel really good for 5 rounds. It's amazing how your body can adapt. You think you're at your top physical level when you're training for 3 rounds and now it feels like the workload has almost doubled and your body catches up and adjusts to it. I'm feeling really good. Its hard work and time consuming, but I feel better now than I've ever felt for a 3 round fight.

PC: I'm sure we'll speak again before August 9th and if not, because I know how busy it's going to get, good luck. Is there anything you want to close with?

JF: No. Just check out fitchfighter.com and mmainstrunctional.com.

FIGHTHYPE \\ CONTENT

The interview is a couple of days old but its worth posting. Sorry if its a repeat.

[jhell]

He better worry about getting a W over GSP before he goes making plans of fighting Penn, who would beat him as well.

[barbarca]

i cant wait till fitchy boy gets a beat down WAR GSP

[drop toe hold]

quote form interviewer -PC: I have a lot of guys coming up to me saying they're picking you in this fight. I was actually shocked.
[quote]


man that interviewer is a dick

[cpac77]

[quote=drop toe hold;500982]quote form interviewer -PC: I have a lot of guys coming up to me saying they're picking you in this fight. I was actually shocked.

man that interviewer is a dick

No, he isn't a dick. You could me misunderstanding him. He could be saying in other words that he is surprised that more people have jumped off the GSP bandwagon and see Fitch as a true threat.

[ILJO]

There are some haters, especially on my website

I thought that was hilarious.


I would definitely pick GSP to win but I think Fitch has a better chance than many people give him credit for

Thats kinda fucked up about Kos too. Why does everyone hate him? I like Josh. He's a good fighter and respectful as well

[barbarca]

kos has improved his thi boxing big time i wanna see sanchez kos 2

[kc56]

I think it's kind of funny that Fitch, who trains at AKA with Koscheck, is talking about GSP's standup being a myth, yet these are the guys that claimed Koscheck lost because he was working on his standup to prepare to trade standup and wasn't prepared for the wrestling of GSP.

[fedor]

Originally Posted by ILJO

I thought that was hilarious.


I would definitely pick GSP to win but I think Fitch has a better chance than many people give him credit for

Thats kinda fucked up about Kos too. Why does everyone hate him? I like Josh. He's a good fighter and respectful as well

I think it all started when he fought Diego and all the shit that was talked.
That is the only reason I could think of.

[ILJO]

Originally Posted by fedor

I think it all started when he fought Diego and all the shit that was talked.
That is the only reason I could think of.

yea I guess that could have something to do with it.

Diego talked just as much shit though and hes still a fan favorite so it still doesnt make much sense to me.