Jon Fitch: "If I can stop Thiago Alves, I did something twice GSP couldn't do."

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"I've made a lot of changes. You might not have seen all of them yet. You're going to see them in this fight. Thiago's made a lot of changes, but it's still not enough to beat me. I've got way more tricks up my sleeve about people trying to take me down, than he's been able to develop stopping people from that sort of thing. A win over Thiago puts me right back in line for a title shot. Especially if I can stop him. If I can stop Thiago Alves, I did something twice GSP couldn't do in five rounds. I know that smashing Thiago can put me closer to that title shot, but I'm not worried about that fight right now. I got to worry about Thiago. Everything is based on putting Thiago away." -Jon Fitch

Jon Fitch will be looking to do something when he faces Thiago Alves at UFC 111 that he hasn't done since 2007- finish an opponent.

Although Fitch is widely considered to be one of the top welterweight fighters in the world, he has struggled lately with his ability to put opponents away, even in fights he has controlled. Most recently, Fitch defeated Mike Pierce at UFC 107, but despite having Pierce in trouble at several points in the fight, Fitch was unable to capitalize, and ended up taking home a unanimous decision.

With a big win over Thiago Alves, Fitch likely moves to the head of the line for the next welterweight title shot. Fitch has already fought for the welterweight title once in his career, a five round battle against champ Georges St. Pierre at UFC 87.

The fight earned Fitch "Fight of the Night" honors, but ended in his first and only UFC loss to date. Coming into the contest, Fitch had put together a then UFC record eight-fight win streak, with notable victories over Alves and Diego Sanchez along the way.

Since the loss, Fitch has bounced back with three straight wins, including a victory over talented newcomer Paulo Thiago, to set up his possible title eliminator with Alves.

The first time the two fought was at Ultimate Fight Night 5 back in 2006, where Fitch was able to stop Alves with an unusual upkick TKO in the second round. Following that fight, Alves tore through the welterweight division with seven straight wins, including consecutive victories over Chris Lytle, Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes, and Josh Koscheck en route to a title shot against St. Pierre at UFC 100. But, like so many others before him, Alves fell victim to St. Pierre's high level, well-rounded game, eventually dropping a unanimous decision loss after five painful rounds.