Jon Fitch vs. Paulo Thiago signed for July's UFC 100 fight card

[steph05050]

A rumored welterweight bout between former top UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch (18-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) and Paulo Thiago (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has been signed for UFC 100.

The news comes from Tatame.

The fight could take place on the televised main card of UFC 100, which is set for July 11 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Fitch could very well be fighting to avenge his American Kickboxing Academy team. His teammate, Josh Koscheck, suffered a shocking TKO loss to the UFC newcomer Thiago last month at UFC 95.

Thiago entered the UFC with a stellar 10-0 record, but the Brazilian had little name recognition with mainstream fans. However, he made a splash in his octagon debut with a first-round TKO stoppage (though Koscheck protested the referee's decision to halt the fight).

Thiago will now go for his 12th consecutive victory when he meets Fitch, who recently rebounded from a title loss to Georges St. Pierre with a unanimous-decision win over Akihiro Gono at UFC 94. Fitch, who launched his UFC career with a record eight-straight wins, is now 16-1 in his past 17 fights.

In addition to Fitch vs. Thiago, UFC 100 features a title-unification bout between heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar and interim champ Frank Mir, and St. Pierre defends his welterweight title against top contender Thiago Alves.

Additionally, as MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) recently reported, Yoshihiro Akiyama is expected to make his highly anticipated UFC debut against veteran middleweight Alan Belcher, and "The Ultimate Fighter 9" coaches Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson are slotted to fight at the show.

For continued coverage of UFC 100, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.

Source (http://mmajunkie.com/news/14296/jon-fitch-vs-paulo-thiago-signed-for-ufc-100.mma)

[Michael]

I think they are jumping the gun with Paulo Thiago. Fitch is a tough fighter and difficult test for Paulo.

I would have also liked to see Fitch against a higher ranked fighter.

[bail3yz]

Ya, this is kind of a silly fight for Fitch.. he has little to gain here..
Paulo didnt even look good at koscheck, despite the win..
They should have used this opportunity to properly build up Paulo.. not try to feed him to another high ranked fighter.

[MilesHackett]

This fight actually kind of bothers me. Paulo Thiago was brought in with the expectation of losing to Josh Koscheck, but he basically told the UFC to suck a fat one by KOing Sideshow Bob. Setting him up against Fitch for his rematch is kind of a way for the UFC to reassert normalcy into the WW division. I like Jon Fitch, but I almost hope that Thiago wins in a similar fashion, just so that it screws up the division more for the guys setting him up to fail.

[Aaron]

This fight actually kind of bothers me. Paulo Thiago was brought in with the expectation of losing to Josh Koscheck, but he basically told the UFC to suck a fat one by KOing Sideshow Bob. Setting him up against Fitch for his rematch is kind of a way for the UFC to reassert normalcy into the WW division. I like Jon Fitch, but I almost hope that Thiago wins in a similar fashion, just so that it screws up the division more for the guys setting him up to fail.

yeh i'll be cheering for Paulo to win that's for sure....

[MilesHackett]

yeh i'll be cheering for Paulo to win that's for sure....

It really just bugs me sending new fighters into match-ups with top ranked competition. It wasn't just Thiago's UFC debut, it was his first legitimately ranked opponent, those are huge odds to go against. He was given a ONE fight contract too, which only further indicates that he was brought in as a filler fight to keep Koscheck active.

I'm really hoping we can see what his ground game is like in this match-up, his stand-up is cardboard-like, so he should avoid trading with Fitch.

[Aaron]

It really just bugs me sending new fighters into match-ups with top ranked competition. It wasn't just Thiago's UFC debut, it was his first legitimately ranked opponent, those are huge odds to go against. He was given a ONE fight contract too, which only further indicates that he was brought in as a filler fight to keep Koscheck active.

I'm really hoping we can see what his ground game is like in this match-up, his stand-up is cardboard-like, so he should avoid trading with Fitch.

fitch rarely fights top fighters....he's fought 2 top 10 fighters out of like 10 in the UFC....

[MilesHackett]

fitch rarely fights top fighters....he's fought 2 top 10 fighters out of like 10 in the UFC....

Yeah, they should really be setting Thiago up against guys like Kevin Burns, Ryo Chonan, Brad Blackburn, etc. Not throwing him in the deep-end immediately just so he can be cut.

[Josh]

I'd love to see Thiago get knocked out. Still angry over him KOing Koscheck. :mad:

I kind of get the feeling Dana is still punishing Fitch for the video game business that went on a few months ago.

[Pliff]

yeh i'll be cheering for Paulo to win that's for sure....


Im looking forward to see this guys ground game. He looked sloppy standing up but he definatly has some power.

Fitch is a stud though, and I think he should take this.

[Sewaside]

Them treating Thiago's victory as anything else but a fluke is a joke... Guy does got a decent chin though.

[kamikaze145]

Fitch should win this fight in dominant fashion. Fitch is very good at bjj, not the kind of guy who will get caught in my opinion and he is a good striker with a great chin. I dont really see Paulo Thiago having much to offer Fitch.

[kc1983]

Wow, 1 fight in the UFC that ended with a horrible stoppage and Thiago gets the #3 guy in the division. Nice!!!

[JT42]

I am not sure I agree with everyone here. While Thiago did beat Kos he didnt look impressive at all so I dont think the UFC wants to give him easier guys to build him up. A fight with Fitch makes sense because an AKA guy gets a chance at revenge for his teammate.

Also I am interested in what everyone is saying about Fitch not fighting top guys. The problem is that 3 of the top guys are AKA and the others seem to be tied up in fights so who SHOULD he fight?

GSP (1) and Alves (2) are scheduled to fight
Fitch (3) is the guy in question
Condit (4) is scheduled to fight
Parisyan (5) is now suspended
Swick (6) and Kos (7) are both AKA
Hughes (8) and Serra (10) are scheduled to fight
Hazelett (9) I thought was recovering from injury since he pulled from 96

So its not like he really has an option of fighting a top guy unless he sits on the shelf waiting.

[RileyTP17]

Fitch is going to win this like he always does, grind out a decision. He is going to get some revenge for a teammate and pound this guys face in. Thiago looked horrible before he caught Kos. I think JT is right, who else can Fitch fight right now with everyone booked? This gives him a chance to redeem his camp. Not to mention I think the UFC is still a little pissed off about that whole name rights thing that happened a few months ago; there not about to start building him up in the WW ranks again.