A four-year letterwinner and 2002 team captain in West Lafayette, Fitch has quickly climbed the world MMA welterweight (170 lbs.) and has been granted his chance to vie for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title on Saturday, Aug. 9. In 24 career MMA fights, Fitch boasts a 21-2 record (one no contest), including 15 straight victories and eight straight wins in the UFC. The Fort Wayne, Ind. native is ranked No. 2 in the world at 170 lbs. (according to sherdog.com), and he will face the only man left ahead of him in those standings in the headline fight of UFC 87: Seek and Destroy, in Minneapolis, Minn.
Georges St. Pierre won the UFC Welterweight title in April of this year, and his fight with Fitch will be his first title defense. The Montreal, Quebec native is 16-2 in his career with his only losses coming at the hands of former UFC Champions Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. St. Pierre is regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in all weight classes and divisions of MMA, and will be Fitch's toughest test of his career.
Fitch's wrestling background gave him solid preparation for the sport and has been a foundation for his MMA career. He's joined a large list of MMA standouts with collegiate wrestling backgrounds, including Hughes, Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture. However, as Fitch has developed as a professional fighter he's adapted other aspects of the MMA world into his repertoire, including a kickboxing and a black belt in jiu-jitsu.
A combination of various forms of martial arts and combat sports, MMA has grown from a savage spectacle which included nearly zero rules and a very small audience on a pay-per-view basis, to a huge sporting attraction which can now be viewed on both cable and network television. Current UFC President Dana White and Zuffa, LLC purchased the UFC organization in 2001, and quickly began transforming it into the giant it is today.
The breakout point for the sport was the premier of the reality series The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), on which Fitch was initially supposed to be a cast member. Since it's inception and the seven consecutive running seasons, the UFC has become the highest grossing pay-per-view organization in the world ($222,766,000 in 2006), and the reality series has spawned several superstars in the sport, including Forest Griffin and Diego Sanchez from Season One. While others were cast directly in the spotlight by the reality show, Fitch has been forced to take the long road to the top and build a fan base from victories and reputation, rather than TV cameras and commercials. In his ascent he's managed to knock off a pair of TUF alumni, including Sanchez, the middleweight champion of the inaugural show.
For more information on Fitch, visit his website, or for more information on his championship fight visit the UFC homepage. (www.ufc.com).
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