When BBM caught up with Jon Fitch back in December, he knew he had some improvements to make before the fight against BJ Penn – he hadn’t won by knockout or submission in four years.
“I have had a lot of decisions in the past, and have struggled with that. We’ve been working on changing a few things up in training and focusing on setting up and finishing people. The good thing is that I’ve still found a way to win regardless of whether I could finish.”
On the other hand, BJ had a different strategy. “I’m not the guy to watch the tapes and pick everything apart, I just gotta go in and beat him.”
Penn is a one-in-a-million UFC fighter. With his powerful knockouts, strong ground game and experience with big-time fights (he’s held both the lightweight and welterweight belts), he’s a tough man to beat.
Fitch, however, is a gritty, dominant fighter with only one loss in his last twenty-one fights. A win in
While the majority of BJ’s fights are made up of striking (47% to be exact), only 51% of strikes have been successful. On the other hand, Jon’s fights are 47% takedowns, over half of which have been successful. The clincher is that BJ has avoided 80% of takedowns in his career – which will be BJ’s key to what will be a somewhat surprising victory.
