In what has been a very bizarre 48 hours for the No. 2 ranked welterweight fighter in the world, Jon Fitch has reportedly—according to MMARated.com—agreed to sign the UFC’s proposed exclusivity contract in regards to THQ’s license to use his likeness in their upcoming video game “UFC 2009: Undisputed”.
Wednesday and today saw the two sides trade barbs back and forth, but ultimately it seems as though cooler heads—or at least threatened heads—are going to prevail, as the report states that Fitch is still expected to participate on the UFC 94 card on January 31st against highly-ranked (though not top ten) Japanese star Akihiro Gono, as was originally announced earlier this week.
The news will undoubtedly earn a collective sigh of relief from UFC fans; however, the subplots that this story has unraveled have yet to be tied up, including the fates of fellow AKA fighters Josh Koscheck, Christian Wellisch, and Cain Valasquez.
MMA fans, perhaps more than any other sport, require their forgiveness to be earned, so Dana White would do well for himself to officially go on record—with Jon Fitch—and together they can hash this whole situation out to the media and play it off as some horrible misunderstanding.
Considering both White’s less-than-kind remarks toward AKA, which—whether they were justified or not—clearly went over the line, even considering the UFC President’s well-documented no-BS attitude, as well as Fitch’s complete confusion as to the whole situation, do not expect the fans to fade quietly into the backgrounds following the fiasco. They care far too much about the sport and its fighters, and even though things seem to be heading in a better direction for Fitch and his AKA companions, the UFC’s blackballing strategies have looked largely barbaric, bordering on Mafioso to the general public.
Note to White and Company: Do not underestimate the popularity of under-sold fighters such as Jon Fitch. Just because the UFC puts no effort into marketing him, doesn’t mean well-informed fans value him any less. In fact—judging by the popularity of fighters such as Jake Shields and Fedor Emelianenko on internet message boards—the opposite may be the case.
More on this story as it develops, if necessary…
