Jon Fitch: No Longer the Bridesmaid

Jon Fitch has accomplished much in his career, having spent years on the precipice of a world championship. At one point, he was the best welterweight in the world not named Georges St. Pierre. Fitch failed to dethrone St. Pierre at UFC 87 in August 2008 but rebounded with a five-fight winning streak. However, he was released by the Ultimate Fighting Championship after posting a 1-2-1 record across his next four appearances. From there, Fitch signed with the World Series of Fighting and soon found himself battling Rousimar Palhares for the organization’s welterweight crown. He submitted to a kneebar from the Brazilian leg lock specialist at WSOF 16, his championship aspirations once again on hold.As Fitch drifted into his late 30s, it seemed as though one of this generation’s most successful fighters might never reach the mountaintop. However, the Fort Wayne, Indiana, native kept Father Time at bay, defeated Yushin Okami in a title eliminator in late 2015 and then completed his unlikely climb with a unanimous decision over Joao Zeferino at WSOF 30 that brought with it the vacant welterweight championship. Fitch’s undying persistence had finally paid dividends. “Winning that title was great because it was an accumulation of everything I had been through up to that point,” he told Sherdog.com. “I had a rough training camp for the Joao fight because I had a bulging disc in my back. I wasn’t sure going into that fight. If I got hit once, would I lose all feeling in one of my limbs or would I make my bulging disc even worse? To win that …

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