gusman
08-08-2010, 07:58 AM
from ufc.com
OAKLAND, CA, August 7 - Jon Fitch earned a second shot at the welterweight title Saturday night at Oracle Arena with a shutout three round unanimous decision win in his long-awaited rematch with Brazilian powerhouse Thiago “Pitbull” Alves.
Scores were 30-27 across the board for Fitch, who stopped Alves in their first bout in 2006. He will face the winner of the late-2010 bout between Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck. In 2008, Fitch lost a five round unanimous decision to St-Pierre in his first crack at the 170-pound belt.
Fitch opened the bout with some solid standup before closing the gap on Alves and dumping him on the mat. After a few moments, Alves got back to his feet twice, only to be put back on the seat of his trunks both times. In an ensuing scramble, Alves was able to reverse position on his foe and get on top, but he used the opportunity to get the fight standing again. Fitch had no problem with this turn of events, as he mixed up his strikes and kept Alves guessing before taking him down just before the end of the round.
Showing more urgency, Alves came out fast for round two, only to get taken down. Alves tried to use the opportunity to sink in a guillotine choke, but Fitch fought his way out and into a dominant position. With less than two minutes left, Alves briefly found daylight, but he was unable to do anything with it as Fitch continued to dominate the action. Finally, with under a minute to go, Alves sprung into action and got back to his feet, but again, he couldn’t get his offense in gear.
Down 2-0 in rounds, Alves’ job in the third round was simple – finish the fight. And while not completely throwing caution to the wind, he was more aggressive with his striking though never really landing anything of significance. As the round entered its third minute, Fitch grounded his foe and looked to finish as he got Alves’ back. And though the finish didn’t come, the winner was evident just by the looks on the combatants’ faces.
With the win, Fitch improves to 26-3 with 1 NC; Alves falls to 22-6.
OAKLAND, CA, August 7 - Jon Fitch earned a second shot at the welterweight title Saturday night at Oracle Arena with a shutout three round unanimous decision win in his long-awaited rematch with Brazilian powerhouse Thiago “Pitbull” Alves.
Scores were 30-27 across the board for Fitch, who stopped Alves in their first bout in 2006. He will face the winner of the late-2010 bout between Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck. In 2008, Fitch lost a five round unanimous decision to St-Pierre in his first crack at the 170-pound belt.
Fitch opened the bout with some solid standup before closing the gap on Alves and dumping him on the mat. After a few moments, Alves got back to his feet twice, only to be put back on the seat of his trunks both times. In an ensuing scramble, Alves was able to reverse position on his foe and get on top, but he used the opportunity to get the fight standing again. Fitch had no problem with this turn of events, as he mixed up his strikes and kept Alves guessing before taking him down just before the end of the round.
Showing more urgency, Alves came out fast for round two, only to get taken down. Alves tried to use the opportunity to sink in a guillotine choke, but Fitch fought his way out and into a dominant position. With less than two minutes left, Alves briefly found daylight, but he was unable to do anything with it as Fitch continued to dominate the action. Finally, with under a minute to go, Alves sprung into action and got back to his feet, but again, he couldn’t get his offense in gear.
Down 2-0 in rounds, Alves’ job in the third round was simple – finish the fight. And while not completely throwing caution to the wind, he was more aggressive with his striking though never really landing anything of significance. As the round entered its third minute, Fitch grounded his foe and looked to finish as he got Alves’ back. And though the finish didn’t come, the winner was evident just by the looks on the combatants’ faces.
With the win, Fitch improves to 26-3 with 1 NC; Alves falls to 22-6.