Jon Fitch to face Chris Wilson at UFC 82?
January 22, 2008 by Sam Cupitt
Sherdog.com is reporting that a fight between top welterweight contender, Jon Fitch and UFC newcomer Chris Wilson is close to being signed.
Jon Fitch was set to take on Akihiro Gono at UFC 82 but the veteran Japanese fighter had to pull out with a hand injury he sustained in his fight with Tamdan McCrory at UFC 78.
Chris Wilson is a veteran of the IFL organisation and has a 13-3 record, and has a win over current IFL welterweight champion, Jay Hieron.
Awesome replacement on short notice.
really? I’m thinking, what’s the point? Is the idea that, if both Karo and Fitch win, then they’ll finally fight each other?
Anton-
Chris Wilson doesn’t have the wrestling to hang with Fitch but his striking is among the welterweight division’s best. This will be a good fight.
Certainly a really good replacement, and should be a good fight as well. Wilson in the welterweight division might be one of their best prospects.
This will be a good fight. With that said, everyone is still clamoring for Fitch and Karo to face off for a title shot. With the next championship bout being in April the earliest we could see another battle for the belt would be late July/early August but typically the UFC waits longer in between title bouts. Despite Karo’s claims that he is going to get a title shot as long as he wins his next bout, the fact still remains that at this juncture there’s nothing that warrants Karo getting bumped in line ahead of Fitch. Theoretically, if both Fitch and Karo win their bouts in March and April, respectively, we could see a #1 contenders fight in July and the next title bout before the end of the year. The thing about this whole situation is it rides on certain people winning certain fights and no injuries occuring. When you try to plan to far ahead in MMA or in life, things usually don’t go your way. With that said, it’s entirely possible that either Karo or Fitch could lose their next bout, guaranteeing the title shot to the other instead.
This fight kinda came from left field. I wouldn’t have thought Marcus Davis would have minded fighting Fitch but I guess the UFC doesn’t want to use Marcus like that.
Kinda looks like the UFC is trying to have their cake and eat it too by matching Fitch and Karo up with lesser opponents so they have an abundance of riches when it comes to choosing the next Welterweight challenger.
Let us hope that the MMA gods smile on them and there aren’t two massive upsets…
This is going to be a hard fight for both guys. Chris Wilson ain’t no sleeper. He’s going to bring his A game against this guy.
Check out more about Chris Wilson at http://www.chriswilsonmma.com