UFC News: Jon Fitch To Miss Most Of 2011, Will Injury Hurt His Career?

Will Jon Fitch Be The Same After Shoulder Injury Forces Him Out Of UFC Action For Most Of 2011?

Jon Fitch was poised to have a very big year with UFC in 2011. He had a win over B.J. Penn stolen from him by the judges at UFC 127, but was getting a rematch at UFC 132. If he won that, he would have been next in line for a welterweight title shot against Georges St-Pierre. Sadly, injuries have intervened, and Fitch will now be out of action for six months.

From MMAJunkie.com:

Fitch learned Tuesday that a shoulder injury he sustained in a fight with B.J. Penn requires surgery and is likely to keep him out of action for up to six months.

--snip--

"I'm going to have to get the labrum worked on, and I also have a tear of one of the rotator cuff muscles that's going to need to be repaired, too," Fitch told MMAjunkie.com.

 

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The timing of the news is actually worse than the news itself. A lot of people figured surgery was going to be necessary, but he tried to rehab it. With Georges St-Pierre getting ready to defend the welterweight title in 10 days, Fitch would have been able to get a title shot by the end of this year.

Now, he will have to wait until at least 2012 before he gets a championship fight.

But since this is a shoulder injury, and Fitch's style is wrestling, this could have serious ramifications on his style. If he doesn't have the mobility or the same strength in his shoulder, his style, as annoying as it is to some, will not work, and some of those close wins that he got could end up going the other way.

Fitch will have a lot of work to do in order to get back to full strength, and he will put in the work to get there. But until I see how he performs post-surgery, I believe that he will be much less successful than he has been in recent years.