Jon Fitch represents one of the problems the UFC has faced in recent years in being able to properly promote and market a full stable of over 250 fighters. He’s a great fighter – undefeated in almost 5 years – but prior to his fight with Diego Sanchez, few in the mainstream had even heard of the guy. Most of his fights had not been shown on broadcasted events nor had he really received any press for his grinding, “blood and guts” fight style.
It’s not like Fitch is the only fighter to contend for a title that the general public may not know about; Nathan Marquardt is another that comes to mind. You might even add Lyoto Machida, previous to his bout with Tito Ortiz, to that list.
Attempting to change all this, the UFC is taking every opportunity to push Fitch to the masses. Last night, SpikeTV aired Countdown to UFC 87 and chose to focus the spotlight on the contender, Fitch, for the majority of the main event portion of the segment.
It’s really no surprise, either, as Dana White has been telling every and anyone that will listen this week that not only is Fitch the real deal, but also that he’s White’s personal pick for upset of the night.
Following the UFC’s growing trend for showing more and more fights on every broadcasted card, their problems of adequately promoting up-and-coming stars should be over – simply look at the coverage that Cain Velasquez and Shane Carwin have received to date.
Yet, if Jon Fitch is victorious on Saturday, we as a community have not, by far, seen the last of The Fitch Push.