The UFC’s Meat Grinder

Jon Fitch (above) is 13-1 in the UFC. | D. Mandel/Sherdog.com

Athletes like Fitch generally fly under the radar longer then most of their peers, even when they are more accomplished than their contemporaries.

Lacking the crass appeal that translates into extra notoriety and recognition, a guy like Fitch represents the ultimate blue-collar type. He shows up in shape and pushes the pace from the opening moments, with a game predicated on knowing the percentages he can play and the strengths he can exert in order to sap you of your own. There is no mean-mugging, histrionics at the weigh-in or on the way to the cage, no manufactured grudge; his game mimics the same stripped-down approach.

Fitch rarely throws strikes more complex than a basic straight or textbook counter, and his wrestling is a nuts and bolts compendium of everything one would want to teach a junior high wrestler in order to give him a foundation. What makes Fitch excel is the peerless execution of these strategies, the fights within the fights that comprise the largely overlooked tactical side of MMA. With an outstanding jiu-jitsu game backing up his wrestling, he is one of the better-rounded grapplers in the sport. The end result is that he gets from Point A to B with a jarring sense of inevitability, almost always with a backup plan in case his opponent stops him on the first attempt.

If blocking and tackling alter the calculus of a football game, positioning, angles, and properly applied pressure work the same way for Fitch in MMA. He simply outthinks and outworks foes until the reductive effects produce the same inevitable result: you’re tired, he’s pressuring and you’re sucked into his world.

Javier Mendez/D. Mandel

AKA’s Mendez praises Fitch’s
mental fortitude and strength.

Javier Mendez, trainer at the American Kickboxing Academy, weighed in on the matchup with Penn. Mendez’s perspective is a unique one, as he has mentored Fitch since the early days of his career and trained Penn from 2000-2002, right when “The Prodigy” began his ascent into MMA.

“Jon is the true testament to anybody with the mental desire. He’s not great physically, but he is stronger than anybody, just as strong as Cain Velasquez, mentally,” says Mendez. “He’s very strong and very coachable. Jon is one of my easiest fighters to work with.”

Ironically, Penn represents the flip side of that model -- a magnificently gifted athlete with the ephemeral asterisk; the grappling wunderkind who won the jiu-jitsu world championship after just three years of training, won UFC titles in two divisions and yet forever carries a qualifier due to inconsistent conditioning and performances.

“Jon’s a grinder. It’s gonna be a real, real tough fight. It all depends on what B.J.’s able to exploit on Jon and vice-versa,” Mendez says. “B.J.’s jiu-jitsu is better than Jon’s, but it’s not that much better, and he’s not a better wrestler. B.J.’s got better hands; Jon’s got better kicks.”

At the end of the day, Mendez adds, it comes down to how much Penn wants to be Penn, the dazzling impresario.

“I’ve always thought with B.J. [that] he’s gonna be what he wants to be. He’ll just do it. When he fought Lyoto Machida, he gave him all he could handle,” he says. “If you’re gonna try and outgun B.J. based on size, you’ve got another problem coming. B.J.’s fought a lot of street fights with big guys, so he’s not unaccustomed to that.”

If Fitch needs marked improvement one area, it is his stand-up game. Against most opponents, it has proven serviceable enough to allow him to initiate takedowns and tieups, underwritten by a rock-solid chin. However, in his title challenge against St. Pierre, he found himself outmatched standing, unable to get the correct distance to apply his grappling against the uber-talented champion.

Mendez, though he refuses to look past Penn, believes there is a second chance available against St. Pierre, with different results. So far, AKA representatives are 0-3 against GSP, with Josh Koscheck losing twice. His rematch with the French-Canadian in December yielded little in the way of encouraging results.

“Georges is a puzzle. Koscheck kind of got a little bit of the puzzle figured out. He took him down and was able to hold him down,” Mendez says. “But I think anybody that knows MMA, if that was Jake Shields, GSP could have had some problems. Koscheck got up every time he took him down.”

Penn serves as a great benchmark for how Fitch, Version 2.0, might match up against St. Pierre. Fitch will be the larger man come fight time, as he will enter the Octagon somewhere around 184 pounds; Penn, coming up from lightweight, will likely be around 175. In the end, it becomes a matter of thinking and executing correctly against an eminently crafty opponent in Penn. If he can do so, Fitch will be nicely positioned to take on St. Pierre. However, with five decision victories in a row, he will probably have to do a little bit more against Penn to build the required buzz to land him another shot. A stoppage and some highlight-reel brutality would go a long way Down Under.

“

Jon’s a grinder. It’s
gonna be a real, real
tough fight. It all
depends on what B.J.’s
able to exploit on Jon
and vice-versa.

”

-- Trainer Javier Mendez on Fitch-Penn

“I think what you’re seeing now is the climate shift of the sport,” says Fitch. “Everybody kind of knows everything now. Yet what you are seeing is the guys who are pulling ahead and shining are the thinkers. They’re able to strategize and have a purpose for what they’re doing during a fight. The guys who have all those abilities and don’t have a strategy aren’t going to succeed.”

If there is one trait Fitch has shown, it is that he is good at getting up when knocked down. As long as he can do so, he remains in the fight.

Now that MMA is ushering in more talent than ever, he takes in the up-and-comers as a welcome influx; they are where he was just a few years ago, and the inclination to press forward and keep working, improving and pushing himself is all the invitation he needs.