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Jon Fitch Headlines List of 16 Fighters Released by UFC
By Chris Leslie on February 20, 2013
Sixteen fighters were released by the UFC by the promotion today with UFC welterweight Jon Fitch leading the list. Fitch had a 14-3-1 record with the promotion but was 1-2-1 in his last four bouts. MMAFighting first reported the cuts.
Among the cuts was aging veteran Vladimir Matyushenko and outspoken lightweight Jacob Volkmann. Volkmann had previously announced his release via twitter the night before.
Complete Lists of UFC Roster Cuts:
- Jon Fitch
- Wagner Prado
- Mike Russow
- Jacob Volkmann
- Vladimir Matyushenko
- Che Mills
- Jay Hieron
- Terry Etim
- Paul Sass
- Jorge Santiago
- Mike Stumpf
- Simeon Thoresen
- C.J. Keith
- Motonobu Tezuka
- Josh Grispi
- Ulysses Gomez
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I’m suprised they cut Fitch, he has been with them a long time and his bout with Eric Silva was fight of the night, I just figured he would get one more chance before getting cut. Oh well if he wants to keep fighting he could always got a smaller promotion.
The way I see it is they cut him because once he lost he seems to have also lost his edge. And besides he would never be able to beat GSP.
I was surprised with Etim being cut. I know he has lost 2 in a row I think but he has youth and the ability to grow.
i’m shocked about this, etim is an exciting fighter
WOW completely shocked Fitch has been one of my favorite fighters for a long time. A 14-3-1 record in the UFC gets you cut thats as good of a record as you can find in the UFC. This is totally because he is labeled a “boring” fighter, which is BS because almost everyone he fights that is supposedly more exciting than him gets demolished.
Fitch has two wins over thiago alves including a KO, wins over diego sanchez, mike pierce, and eric silva who are all still in the UFC ( IMO he beat bj penn also)
I guess losing to Johhny Hendricks, and damian maia gets you cut though.
If you look at the record of a guy like Matt Brown(who i also like), he lost 4 out of 5 fights at one point all by submission to Almeida, Baczynski, Lytle, and Brian Foster. Its almost like the UFC is saying that its better to get finished than win by positional dominance because some fans can’t respect ability to shut people down like Fitch does.
@kobe, u could Hardy into that category he lost like 4 in a row and kept him.
I agree about fighters labeled as “boring” and for the UFC entertainment value comes before actual success. It is a business and there are not too many people with an emotional investment as a fan for Jon Fitch. All about PPV numbers.
he never beat penn it was a draw
jon fitch is boring, i think he is a great fighter, but he should try to bang once inawhile
@art Did you see what he did to Erik Silva? That fight should have been would have been stopped if it was anywhere other than Brazil. That was the card where ALL the Brazillians that were getting beat on got ALL the time in the world and not stopped, but when a Brazillian was pounding out a guy from another country, it was stopped really fast. Now take that as you’d like, but in Vegas, that would have been a TKO for Fitch.
Seriously, dude was in the UFC for 8 years and lost to Johnny Hendricks, George St. Pierre, and Damian Maia, can a guy catch a break.
8 years is a hell of an achievement in itself, maybe things are becoming stale for him and this could shake it up a bit for him.
It wasn’t that he lost those fights, it was how.
Against Hendricks, he was the consensus #2 guy at WW. And he just looked like s#it again Maia. He was dominated all around. Combine that with his past flaps with Dana (including his brief release following Likeness-gate), and you’ve got a guy with no wiggle room.
Well, that’s it. I quit.
Lol! Seriously!
I did not see that coming, wow.
Wow they cut Fitch after a loss, but give the punk Diaz a title shot after a loss. Maybe he should have less class and talk his ways into fights. His fight against Eric Silva was epic. He did get dominated on the ground by one of the best grapplers on the planet. This is a load of crap the UFC is crazy. I think he only has total of three losses all together.
This is crazy to me, while Fitch doesn’t usually win over the casual fan, I think there’s a lot of hard core fans who like the guy and what he does. I know I’ll continue to follow his career where ever he ends up. And maybe as mikewh said this could actually be good for him, light a fire under under him. I know Maia is a world class grappler, but Fitch still didn’t look quite right to me, idk maybe it was just me.
Something tells me the UFC cutting Fitch was more personal that “just business”. Fitch has been at odds with the Zuffa brass on more than on occasion during his long stint in the UFC. Furthermore, I’m pretty sure he shrugged off most of that “boring” label after the Silva fight (which was simply awesome). I’m thinking if Zuffa ‘needed’ to cut 16 fighters from their roster there are plenty of other names who could have been on that list rather than a top tier competitor like Jon Fitch. Smells like horsesh*t to me.
In Fitch’s case, it is very much his relationship with Dana White that did this. You can’t flip off your boss and expect a long career. Especially when you give him ammo, like a terrible performance. He has one win in his last 4, and it came against a nobody.
Sorry. Fitch has had something like this coming for a while. And refusing to evolve or improve didn’t help.
Silva is far from a nobody.
When you’re 2-2 since joining the UFC and your best win is Charlie Brenneman, you’re kinda a relative nobody in the UFC’s WW division.
Obviously the fitch thing is simply mad, probably something going on behind the scenes i’m assuming. Anyway a bunch of other people there that i didnt expect aswell, like mills, santiago and volkmann(though his last fight was pretty dreadful) just shows though that the competition is getting tougher and with the new strikeforce fighters coming in a loss could have you out. On a side note, i think this is the 3rd time santiago has been cut, i’d say that properly wrecks him mentaly
If i’m Fitch i take this opportunity at 34 to maybe sign with Bellator, might be a great experience and a refreshing motivator for him.
I guess with lots of talent at WW not to mention this seasons TUF contestants there wasn’t enough room for Fitch. But it still seems a bit fishy especially after his fight with Silva.
TUF is MW, duh
Cutting Fitch is silly. perhaps zuffa thought this would be a good opportunity to send a sort of message to the other fighters, make an example of him?
This is a great opportunty for Bellator to snatch up some high level competition for their Champions to face. Etim, Mills, Volkmann, Grispi and Fitch would be a big boost to that roster.
Yeah, it will be interesting to see how Bellator responds (business wise) to today’s events.
Fitch vs. Askren would be a great fight, IMO. And definitely test Ben to see if he is actually UFC ready.
Whether he is UFC ready or not, Bellator is not letting their best (or second best, depending on what you think of Eddie Alvarez and what his status actually is) talent just go without some sort of fight.
Regardless, it would be a huge litmus test for Askren.
it would be a good fight and a tough fight for Fitch. I can already hear dana spouting off about two of the most boring fighters in mma and so on, trying to discredit that fight…Askren is for sure UFC calibre he’d beat alot of ufc guys he just has that “boring reputation” label sometimes put on him by certain maybe less educated fans which is sometimes hard to shake even with some stoppages. I say haters gonna hate, do what you do best if it’s wrestling striking clinching whatever, it’s up to the opponents to not let specialists like Askren deploy their game. Personally I really appreciate watching an athlete like Askren just Manhandle fighters his same size so effortlessly the way he has been doing.
Chris leben needs to beon this list
Pretty shocking IMO..Anybody who says it makes sense because he couldn’t get to that next level is plain foolish!By that standard there would be about 5 guys in each division.well I agree he can be boring at times hes still one of the best WW. This feels much more like a personal issue somewhere near the top.When it rains it pours for fitch well guys like hardy and numerous other guys I guess say the right things?
If you look at this as a league type of situation. UFC being the top league and other promotions like BELLATOR and BAMMA being the next league down, then all that’s happening with fighters being cut is like a relegation. Do well in the lower leagues and you get promotion back to the big league. Examples :- DAN HENDERSON, NATE MARQUARDT, ROBBIE LAWLER etc…. FITCH will be back with a more aggressive style and an unbeaten record outside of the UFC.
thats BS!!!!!!!!!!!! i loved watching jon fitch fight!!!! two thumbs down for UFC bastards!!!!!!!!!!!!!
someone should start a league for MMA diehards with no time limits, or 15 minute rounds. askren would fight fitch. couture would commentate and explain what’s going on. people will know m who the baddest WW on the planet is – at least who might win a real fight in the desert with no commercial breaks
Please cut Dan Hardy and Pat Barry.
Well, let’s face it. Dana White has wanted to do this for more than a minute. Fighting BJ Penn to a draw just doesn’t have the purchase it used to (even if you did really win).
gutted, this might come down to that computer game shit he got cut for 2 or 3 years ago :-(
Ding ding ding!