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Saturday, Jun 15, 2013

Full Contact Fighter’s “The Daily Takedown”: Jon Fitch Fizzles, But It’s The World Series Of Fighting That Loses

Fitch

By Joshua Molina

A star fizzles and a star is born.

It’s not what the World Series of Fighting planned.

After showing vignette-after-vignette of Jon Fitch training, talking, and stretching, the former UFC contender was submitted by Josh Burkman in 41 seconds — about half as long as it used to take Mike Tyson to finish his opponents.

The “big star” from the UFC was supposed to come in to the WSOF and be a “big star” there. Not gonna happen. Not yet, anyway.

Even within that 41 seconds, Fitch fought a strange fight. He came out a bit careless and sloppy and his approach, got tangled in a messy scrap, and then got caught with a left and right hand.

In trouble, as has been his MO, he went for the takedown, and then got caught in a rear-naked-choke. True to his gritty, toughman persona, Fitch didn’t tap, and went lights out.

The World Series of Fighting messed up big here in matching Fitch with Burkman so quickly. Sure, Fitch is a big star, but even big stars need tune-up matches, particularly when they have just been cut by the UFC and lost their fight.

Burkman was good going into the fight and everyone knew it. He also fought in the UFC, and even though he lost three fights there, everyone knew he was only getting better now. There’s no reason why this fight couldn’t have waited a few months.

Fitch has been in a public fight with UFC president Dana White over pay, but all of the attention he received over that issue will likely go away now that he has been stopped in such dramatic fashion.

Fitch fell faster Friday night than Vanilla Ice. A star today, at the bottom of the pack tomorrow. Fitch will be back, but at 35, the road to relevance won’t be easy.

The WSOF blew a huge opportunity here by putting these guys together so quickly. Burkman is now the main guy in the WSOF, but after that win, how long do you think it will take to see Burkman signed by the UFC?

The WSOF of fighting and all MMA promotions need to stop booking fights for the hardcore fan. MMA promotions need to build stars and keep old stars alive for as long as possible. What did the World Series of Fighting gain Friday night?

In 41 seconds, the company’s big acquisition choked and its own star now has the attention of the UFC. Oh, and WSOF President Ray Sefo will fight on the company’s next show.

On the undercard, former UFC star Jacob Volkmann defeated former Strikeforce star Lyle “Fancy Pants” Beerbohm, in a boring fight that was pretty much everything average fans hate about MMA.

Beerbohm, a self-professed former meth-addict, is usually entertaining to watch because he tries really hard in his fights. Considering his story and road to recovery, he’s an easy guy to root for. He couldn’t do much, but avoid several submission attempts against Volkmann, who also was recently cut by the UFC.

Beerbohm is good in the scramble, but he just couldn’t get any offense in against Volkmann, he seemed to have more energy in the fight and was a step or two quicker. Again, another bad match-up for these two guys. Neither fighter looked good and Beerbohm, who is the more marketable fighter, took a step backward in his decisive defeat.

Contact reporter Joshua Molina at jmolina@fcfighter.com.

posted by JoshuaM @ 11:51 am
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