Former UFC welterweight title challenger Jon Fitch is preparing for his UFC 153 bout with top prospect Erick Silva, and took the time to speak to FC Fighter about a few different things. The interview was quite candid and Fitch had a few surprising things to say. The first was that he was actually hurt going into the Johny Hendricks fight, but needed the money because he had been out for a while:
“My head wasn’t even in the fight in the first place. I fought because I needed money. I should have pulled out of the fight because I had a second-degree MCL tear in my right knee. I wasn’t able to grapple or wrestle at all during the training camp.”
“I don’t want to disrespect Johny Hendricks. He’s a hell of a fighter, but I didn’t even put myself in a position to win that fight. I was struggling a little bit with the mortgage and I couldn’t afford not to fight.”
He also said that he thought the stop was early (he was knockout out in 12 seconds), that he was awake the whole time, and he’d like to fight Hendricks again someday. The other interesting statement he made was in regards to how the UFC gives out title shots, and what he thinks he needs to change about himself to get back into the picture:
“It’s impossible to tell. There’s no system for picking number one contenders. There’s no order, there’s no lineup, there’s no point system. It’s just whoever they feel they’re going to make the most money off of. That’s who gets the title shot. It kind of sucks, because in other sports there’s kind of a clear path; you do this, this and this, and you get this. That’s just not the way combat sports work I guess. It doesn’t work that way with boxing or the UFC. It comes down to showmanship. I have to be a better showman to get a title shot. I don’t have to be a better fighter I just have to be a better showman.”
In addition to that, he shares his thoughts on Erick Silva, what fighting in Brazil means to him, and a lot more in the interview. It’s really worth checking out the whole thing, which you can do here.