Jon Fitch Goes On An Emotional Tirade, Attacks The UFC And Nick Diaz… But Did Anything He Say Make Sense?

Jon Fitch is normally not an angry man. For the most part, he flies under the radar. Perhaps that’s why it took him so long to get a championship opportunity against Georges St. Pierre, and why it’s taken him so long to get another one. In a new interview, it appears that the long waits and the lack of appreciation may have finally driven Fitch over the edge. Here are all the details.

The full, uncut, profanity-filled interview can be seen in its entirety here. Here are some of the best quotes as compiled by MixedMartialArts.com: “If you can’t beat my style, then you suck. Sorry. If you can’t beat it, you can’t beat it… I don’t see you as a complete fighter if you can’t f—— stay off your back… I’m irritated. I’m pissed off. I wanna hurt some people. I wanna finish a lot of people and I wanna do it in style. I’m tired of being skipped over and I’m tired of being ignored, and it’s time for me to make some noise.”

The interview also features Fitch talking about Nick Diaz at length. Fitch calls out Diaz for attacking his style, saying that Diaz was protected by being in Strikeforce when he made those claims. Fitch also states that he would love to fight Nick Diaz.

When the subject of a potential fight with Josh Koscheck comes up, Fitch was almost-painfully blunt. Remember, some insiders and fans have pointed to Fitch and Koscheck refusing to fight each other as one of the chief reasons why UFC President Dana White was so hesitant to give Koscheck a second fight with GSP and why Fitch is also having trouble getting another fight with St. Pierre. Nevertheless, Fitch says that he would rather “murder everyone and spend the rest of my life in jail” than fight his teammate and friend.

No matter what kind of fighter you are, these are some really strong words. When you consider that it’s Jon Fitch speaking them, you’ve just got to be surprised.

And since Fitch was so bluntly honest and open in this interview, here’s some open and honest bluntness of my own: I’ll believe it when I see it.

Make no mistake, I’m a fan of Jon Fitch. I coined the term “beautiful ugliness” to describe his way of grinding down opponents and making them look like they never took a wrestling defense class in their life. But Jon Fitch has never been a finisher, and one fired-up interview does not lead me to believe that Jon Fitch will come back to the UFC and start finishing people left and right.

Is it possible for Fitch to start finishing people? Of course it is. The man is ridiculously talented and vastly under-appreciated. But here’s even more blunt honesty for you: I’m a bigger fan of Nick Diaz than I am of Jon Fitch, and Jon Fitch will be in for a lot of trouble if he really wants to fight Nick Diaz. Let’s forget for a moment that everything is on the line for Diaz when he fights GSP. If Diaz fights Fitch, Jon Fitch will more than likely lose. Diaz is no joke on the ground, and most of the time he only goes to the ground if he chooses to. Also, and you can trust me on this one… as good as Fitch’s chin is, Nick Diaz can and will crack it. Nick Diaz can and will KO Jon Fitch if they ever met in the Octagon.

As a fan of Jon Fitch, that’s very tough for me to say. And as a fan of Jon Fitch, I really empathize with Fitch’s feelings of being alienated, alone, and under-appreciated. I think he has a legitimate argument, and the optimist in me hopes that he comes back to the UFC and starts absolutely destroying people.

But the realist in me knows that one interview does not make a fighter, and that if Jon Fitch wants to change the way people see him, he needs to start actually finishing and not just talk about finishing.