UFC 87: JON FITCH DISCUSSES LOSS TO ST. PIERRE

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UFC 87: JON FITCH DISCUSSES LOSS TO ST. PIERRE
Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - by Ken Pishna - MMAWeekly.com

As much as Anderson Silva has run roughshod over the UFC middleweight division, Canadian warrior Georges St. Pierre has done nearly as much at welterweight. That only goes to further embolden Jon Fitch’s performance against St. Pierre at UFC 87 this past Saturday night.

He came up on the losing end of a unanimous decision, but Fitch, the No. 2 ranked welterweight in the world to St. Pierre’s No. 1 ranking, proved his toughness. He also showed how he was able to rack up a record-tying 8-0 undefeated streak in the UFC prior to the loss to St. Pierre.

Asked if he felt he proved that he deserved to be considered among the best in the world, Fitch told MMAWeekly.com, “I hope so. You know, if I haven’t proved enough to people in the last eight wins, they really don’t know anything about this sport and aren’t really fans of the sport.”

He thought he had the strategy to beat St. Pierre. "The biggest strategy with Georges was to stay in his face and never really sit still and never really let him get off first. I've seen a lot of fights where people sit and wait for him and with his speed you can't do that."

That strategy may have worked if not for the unexpected speed that the UFC welterweight champion possesses.

"It took all of the first round to adjust to how fast he is,” said Fitch, “and by that time he had hit me so many times in the left eye that I couldn't really see him. He's a great champ.

“I knew he was fast, but not that fast.”

Despite his eye swelling shut early in the fight, Fitch laid his heart out in the Octagon and never backed down. In fact, as the fight wore on, Fitch opened a cut over St. Pierre’s left eye, giving him hope that he could still pull out the win.

“I caught him with a nice knee at the end of the third or the beginning of the fourth… kept throwing right hands trying to hit that cut, see if I could open it up more.”

But it wasn’t to be and St. Pierre continued his dominance of the 170-pound division with a strong unanimous decision victory. Still, Fitch takes some positive reinforcement from the fight.

“The biggest thing is I didn’t get tired,” said the somber challenger to MMAWeekly.com. “I was in there for five rounds throwing down with the best guy in the world and I had more rounds left in me.”