UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch hosted a party over the weekend up here in Toronto, Canada, for the UFC 80: "Rapid Fire" pay-per-view (PPV) event on Saturday afternoon.
Jon's journey north was plagued with frustration because he was held up at San Jose, Calif., airport with frost on the wings of the plane. Apparently, the guy on salary whose job it is to de-ice the wings isn't very busy down in California and was nowhere to be found.
Jon had some time to chalk it up to an experience and laughed it off when he came into the Diesel Playhouse in Toronto.
His girlfriend's luck, however, was just a bit worse as her luggage failed to transfer with her into Toronto. Nonetheless, she was in good spirits with her arms full of shopping bags carrying a new weekend wardrobe.
Evidently she looked at this as an opportunity to do some shopping, whereas it would have ruined my weekend.
For an afternoon showing, there was a great turnout with approximately 230 fans coming out. ‘Showdown' Joe Ferraro was the MC for the afternoon and kept the crowd pumped, showing the reason he is Canada's leading MMA media personality.
Jon and Joe took to the stage between fights and had some question and answer periods where Jon tossed out some great advice to up-and-coming fighters.
In addition, Jon stated that because he's had an opportunity to watch Matt Hughes and his fellow American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) member, Josh Koscheck, fight and lose to Georges St. Pierre that he has an upperhand at formulating a gameplan to beat him when the time presents itself.
Jon called out Karo Parisyan from the stage, but in the same breath gave "The Heat" the benefit of the doubt as to the reason the fight that most fans are clamoring to see didn't happen.
There were some great giveaways provided by Staredown Fight Wear during the event as well.
Jon was a class act and signed autographs and took pictures with his fans, with many asking for the infamous ‘scowl' for their photo opportunity.
While talking with Jon at the booth, we got on the subject of his last fight in Canada against Jeff ‘The Inferno' Joslin at Freedom Fight 2005 in Quebec. I had spoken with Joslin only a week ago, and I had an opportunity to broach the subject with him as well.
For those who are unaware, this fight did end in controversy but both of these guys had only respect for each other. In fact, Jon admitted that that fight was the first ‘war' he was ever in.
In addition, after Koscheck beat Joslin at the Air Force base in Miramar he called Jon and they were in agreement that Joslin was one tough guy.
Jon continued by saying that if Jeff would get healthy and get in the Octagon and rattle off a string of wins, he could see the two of them fighting for the title someday.
The next day Jon hosted a seminar at Ultimate Martial Arts in Toronto. Jon is obviously passionate about teaching what he has learned over the years. It's part of the reason he's so stoked about MMAInstructional.com.
He was scheduled to end at 3 p.m. and we had to basically cut him off an hour later. He focused on all points of the game, but zoned in on the importance of wrestling and the transitions and defensive positioning that a solid wrestling background provides.
About 30 eager up and coming Canadian fighters were there to take in what Jon was teaching. MMA Fight Gear Canada provided all of the students with a personalized autographed picture of Jon.
Jon was a fantastic guest, and we're looking forward to having him back in the future. Jon left the seminar to head home just as a fresh blanket of snow began to cover everything. On that note, we may have him back when it's a bit warmer next time.
Before leaving he was good enough to sit through one last interview. During this discussion he talked about the injury to Akihiro Gono, which has forced him out of an upcoming bout with Jon at UFC 82 on March 1.
We asked him about his thoughts on a replacement, including Marcus Davis. Not surprisingly, Fitch said he wouldn't want the fight unless Davis would be at his best, saying seven weeks between fights could be not enough time for him to "decompress" and be in top form.
To check out the entire video interview click here.
Sean McManus is the Director of Media Relations for MMACanada.net. For more information on the MMA scene up in Canada check out MMACanada.net.
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