MMA is supposed to be a solo sport, right?
Well, that’s not entirely the case for welterweight contender Jon Fitch.
While he does go into the octagon and win his fights on his own, mixed martial arts means much more than individual accomplishments.
To fully identify with the mindset of Jon Fitch you have to understand the importance of his training camp, American Kickboxing Academy, and his fellow welterweight teammates Josh Koscheck and Mick Swick.
Their UFC path was supposed to commence on the first season of the hit reality show The Ultimate Fighter. It was a path that quickly diverged before ultimately coming back together.
Koscheck and Swick were both contestants on the first season. Fitch was supposed to be there right alongside them, but he got cut from the reality show at the last minute. He explained what happened in our recent interview.
“I had been through the whole process. I had quit my job. I told all my family and friends that I was going to be on the show. I was at the airport waiting to board the plane when the producer called me and told me not to get on the plane. He apologized and said that they didn’t have room for me, that they were reformatting the show.”
Fitch was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch as Josh Koscheck lost to Diego Sanchez in the middleweight semifinals and Mike Swick lost to Stephan Bonnar in the light heavyweight semifinals. Despite the losses, the road was far from over for this talented trio of fighters.
Fitch would go on to win his UFC debut in October of 2005, just six months after Koscheck and Swick won their respective UFC debuts on The Ultimate Fighter season finale. Fast forward to today and Fitch, Koscheck, and Swick are all top 10 fighters in the welterweight division.
For Fitch, their success is tied to the team mentality at American Kickboxing Academy.
“I think we have a good mindset and atmosphere at A.K.A. We really strive to be martial artists and not just fighters trying to make a buck or make a name for ourselves. We really try to focus on bettering ourselves, making ourselves the best athletes and fighters we can be. It’s not just about the end-all, be-all of getting paid or becoming famous."
That team mentality seems to be paying off big dividends for all three fighters as their individual accomplishments inside the octagon are impressive to say the least.
“This fight with Paulo Thiago at UFC 100, I win this fight and it’s my tenth victory inside the octagon. Koscheck has ten wins and Swick just picked up his ninth win. Not everyone is able to win that many fights inside the UFC. In terms of total wins we are all right there with some of the biggest names in the sport. We are proud of what we've accomplished as a team.”
For the teammates, it would seem inevitable that at some point they will have to fight each other, given all three are in the top of their division.
What will happen when two of them were asked to face off for a title fight? For Jon Fitch, it’s simply not an option.
2 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete