Ricardo Almeida vs. Jon Fitch In The Works for UFC 106 in November
Ricardo Almeida will make his welterweight debut against Jon Fitch at UFC 106 on November 21 in Las Vegas, according to MMA Mania, which is reporting that the 170-pound matchup is in the works for the event.
Almeida (11-3), a veteran of PRIDE and Pancrase, returned to the UFC in 2008 with a first-round submission of Rob Yundt. After suffering a split decision loss to Patrick Cote, Almeida defeated Matt Horwich by unanimous decision in April and was expected to drop down from middleweight to welterweight for his next bout. However, the New Jersey-native was offered a middleweight fight against Kendall Grove on the main card of UFC 101 in nearby-Philadelphia and put his plans on hold, defeating Grove by unanimous decision at Saturday’s event.
Fitch (17-3), who had won 15-straight fights including a then-record-tying 8-straight in the UFC, had his win streak snapped last August in a unanimous decision loss to welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre. The welterweight contender, who trains out of American Kickboxing Academy, has rebounded in 2009 with back-to-back decision victories over Akihiro Gono and Paulo Thiago.
Almeida-Fitch, which is the first rumored bout for UFC 106, is expected to air on the event’s pay-per-view main card.
For the latest UFC 106 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.
Pictured: Jon Fitch
Tags: Jon Fitch, Ricardo Almeida
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Hm, should be an interesting fight. I’m pulling go for my boy Fitch to come out on top. I hope he has been sharpening his sub defense skills
not real sure about this fight. i believe a fitch vs alves fight would have been the better decision
i would like to see either but i would like to see almeida go to WW first. sweet!
Fitch already beat alves I think.
Fitch did already beat Alves, with an upkick I believe.
I feel that Fitch would win this one. I sure Almeida is dangerous from his back. I could be mistaken but Almeida seems to have good takedown defense and takedowns. But Fitch is wrestling might be to good. Plus they might stand up and trade.
Gotta go with Fitch for the W!
Is it me, or does it seem like the welterweight division is a little bit scattered? I mean, who are the top 5 ww’s? or even top 10? I’m only saying this because to me, this fight makes no sense. It would have made more sense if Condit fought fitch, or if alves rematched fitch. But almeida? and on his first fight @ ww? I don’t know dude…
Almeida’s skills are obviously on the ground so this could be a grapplers match. Fitch’s stand up isn’t anywhere near great so i’m expecting both fighters to take the fight to the ground. Almeida has more talent on the ground but i think fitch is too big and too strong to get subd by fitch. So i’m guessing we’ll see yet another DECISION win by Mr “I won’t fight my teammates for the belt” . Lame…
*subd by almeida
too big and strong? how can that be the case when almeida is dropping down from a BIGGER weight class………
all fitch does is LnP. that bodes well for any bjj specialist. esp one as decorated as Ricardo. and if Fitch wants to stand and strike, Ricardo doesn’t mind doing that either.
Should be a pretty technical fight, I’ll take Ricardo by choke.
I gotta say this has the ear marks of a boring UD for Fitch. Both with no power and both ground games neutralize each other.
This fight makes zero sense, so if Fitch wins this fight what does he gain at 170?, Almaeida is not really a contender in any division.
This is is a dumb matchup.
This definatly has UD written all over it. Fitch wins the striking but if Cote can’t put big dog away Fitch damn sure won’t. Fitch could take Almeida down, but won’t be able to do much in Ricardo’s guard. I also can’t imagine Ricardo will be able to sub fitch since he’s like David Carradine, the harder you choke him the more he gets off, and he damn sure as well won’t tap.
I actually like this match up and pick Almeida to win it.
i agree justin i really think almeida can pull this upset and sub fitch
Same here. I think Almeida has what it takes to beat Fitch. Seems like alot of people count out Almeida because they dont know the true level of his skills. Hes a great fighter. Im picking him for the upset.
its a good matchup, and i think the reason condit didnt get fitch is because fitch is a top 3 ww, and his only recent loss is to the greatness. condit lost to kampmann so it isnt like he was in contention for a fight with a top dog. this is a good match, almeida’s jitz is damn good, and fitch’s jitz is good as well. fitch is underrated imo, and is supremely talented, yet he has two beasts that get more attention then him and they are the greatness and the pitbull. i really like this matchup.
bigchris,
“and i think the reason condit didnt get fitch is because fitch is a top 3 ww, and his only recent loss is to the greatness. condit lost to kampmann so it isnt like he was in contention for a fight with a top dog. this is a good match,”
if they went by this logic wouldnt almeida not be fighting fitch????
Fitch is gonna take this one.
Almeida deserves respect in the new division (for him)….that is why he is getting the fight. Almeida poses challenges for Fitch that make the matchup turn into a nice fight. Fitch will try to lay on Almeida for 3 rounds to get the “decision”. Almeida’s stand-up is better than anyone admits…and his takedown defense is top as well. We know he isn’t afraid to go to the mat. Almeida v. Fitch will be a good fight for Almeida. The big questions is where do they put Almeida after the “W” over Fitch? Has UFC thought that far? Almeida signed 6-fight contract…I am pretty sure this will be his 5th of the contract. (Yundt-Cote-Horwich-Grove)