Jon Fitch wasn’t kidding when he mentioned yesterday that a "big" fight was in the works after his opponent for UFC 106, Ricardo Almeida, bowed out of the contest after he sustained a major knee injury while training.
Fitch is currently in discussions to rematch Thiago Alves at UFC 107 from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn., on Dec. 12, setting up a fantastic 170-pound showdown that will prove once and for all how far both former number one contenders have come since their initial encounter back in 2006.
Of course, Fitch came away with the win, scoring a convincing second round technical knockout of the Brazilian at UFC Fight Night 5. He would go onto win his next five fights, which earned him a crack at division champion, Georges St. Pierre, at UFC 87: "Seek and Destroy" in Aug. 2008.
He was overwhelmed by the Canadian for 25 minutes, losing a lopsided unanimous decision.
Alves, too, went on a tear after the loss to Fitch with seven consecutive victories over top-ranked opponents such as Matt Hughes and Karo Parisyan, as well as outpointing Josh Koscheck on all three judges scorecards at UFC 90 in October of 2008.
However, St. Pierre would also end Alves’ run with another five-round clinic at UFC 100 back in July.
"The Pitbull" has not competed since that time (even though he was originally slated to take on Paulo Thiago on this same card -- a fight that was apparently scrapped in favor of the Fitch-Alves match up). On the other hand, Fitch exacted revenge against submission specialist Paulo Thiago with a unanimous decision at UFC 100 and notched a similar result against Akihiro Gono earlier this year.
So is Fitch still better than Alves more than three years later or has Alves matured to a point where his last loss is essentially meaningless because he is a totally different fighter?
Tune in on Dec. 12 and find out once and for all. In the meantime, let's hear what you have to say below.
UFC 107 will feature a main event between lightweight division champion, BJ Penn, defending his title against number one division contender, Diego Sanchez. In the co-featured fight of the night, former two-time heavyweight champion Frank Mir will "begin his quest for a third title" when he takes on Cheick Kongo.
To check out the latest UFC 107 fight card and rumors click here.
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