Jon Fitch (19-3) vs. Mike Pierce (10-1): Welterweight division’s elite wrestlers meet in a fight, that is pretty important for both guys, since the winner of this bout is really close to a title shot.
Pierce is an exceptionally good wrestler, who shocked pretty much everyone in his last fight, which also served as his UFC debut. Pierce dominated tough Brock Larson with superior wrestling and steady GnP. Athletic Pierce is not the biggest welterweight, but he has good gas tank and work ethic which suits his wrestling-oriented style of fighting.
Fitch is one of the most victorious fighters in the UFC’s history with his 11-1 Octagon record. Fitch really earned his title shot against GSP by winning eight fights in a row. In the fight for the belt GSP laid an epic beating on Fitch, who showed amazing durability, gameness, cohones and all that when he refused to give up. After losing to GSP, it was good time for Fitch to take some time off and focus on improving his skills. He jumped back to action in January when he faced gritty veteran Akihiro Gono at the UFC 94. It was basically a gimme fight where Fitch grinded out a pretty boring decision win.. In his last fight Fitch avenged his team mates loss to Paulo Thiago by outgrappling the Brazilian for three rounds.
Prediction: It’s pretty safe to say that Fitch has a significant advantage on the feet and on the ground. Which is why is also pretty safe to say that Pierce is horribly overmatched here. Sure he got a decisive win over Brock Larson, but then again Larson just got repeatedly slammed and pounded to minced meat by Brian Foster. In his previous fights Pierce has struggled with guys that are nowhere near Fitch’s level. In my opinion Fitch is the best welterweight in the world not named Georges St Pierre. Fitch by TKO strikes from mount R1
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