Some don’t believe Jon Fitch owns the most aesthetically appealing game in the business, but UFC president Dana White states the former top contender is right back in the welterweight title mix if he reigns supreme this Friday at UFC 141 against Johny Hendricks.
“Jon Fitch is back at the top of the 170-pound division,” White stated following Wednesday’s UFC 141 press conference. “We’ve got some fights to make for [Georges St-Pierre] and Fitch is in there.”
Although GSP already holds a decision win over Fitch, the division’s current king is recovering from knee surgery and is expected to take a fight or two before unifying the crown against the winner of the UFC 143 interim title bout between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit.
Speaking of unanimous decisions, Fitch’s past five victories have come courtesy of the three judges sitting Octagon-side. Prior to having his right shoulder surgically-repaired in May, Fitch posted a controversial draw against BJ Penn at UFC 137. The February bout was the last time the 33-year-old competed.
While countless injuries and controversies have recently riddled his weight class, the UFC decided to keep Fitch sidelined. Some believed White was still punishing Fitch for refusing to sign away his likeness to appear in the company’s ‘Undisputed’ video game series.
White claims that couldn’t be further from the truth. As a matter of fact, MMA’s head honcho hasn’t even thought about Fitch’s brief firing from three years ago.
“That’s such [expletive], people pointing at the stuff when I got into it with him over the video game stuff,” White flatly stated. “I don’t even remember that [expletive] until I read it on the [expletive] Internet.
“I have no problem with Jon Fitch, he’s a nice guy. He’s a good guy, he’s a great fighter. I’ve got no problem with him whatsoever.”
UFC 141 takes place inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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