Thomas sent this in:

In a recent conversation with Javier Mendez, founder of the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California, I asked him who people should think of when they hear the term “AKA fighter”. His answer: Jon Fitch.

“Jon wasn’t the greatest athlete when he came here,” said Mendez. “What he had was the greatest mind and determination.”

That mind and determination, along with a growing mixed martial arts arsenal, has led Fitch to 23 pro wins, 10 in the UFC, status as one of the top welterweights in the world, and maybe even more importantly, the title of ‘Captain’, which was bestowed on him by his teammates.

“All of that means a lot to me,” said Fitch. “I carry that with pride and honor and I try to represent the team as well as I can and help everybody as much as I can. I’m not that much of a vocal guy, but I always believed that actions speak louder than words, and through my actions and the way I carry myself, I think it’s a good example for the rest of the guys to follow if they really want to be successful with their fighting careers.”

Fitch kind of reminds you of New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter, whose leadership by example attitude had led the Bronx Bombers to five World Series titles. The welterweight title has eluded Fitch thus far, with his only attempt ending in a five round decision loss to Georges St-Pierre in August of 2008, but with two wins since then and the prospect of another being added to his record when he takes on Mike Pierce this Saturday in Memphis, the Indiana native is ready for another shot at the gold belt.

“I think I’m ready whenever they’re ready to give me the call for that fight with GSP,” said Fitch. “I’ve made the improvements I think I needed to make to beat him, and I’m improving daily.”

The bout with St-Pierre was one which told you as much about the loser as it did the winner. Knocked down and in trouble early, Fitch showed his warrior spirit in not only surviving, but in giving St-Pierre what he still says was his toughest fight ever. And considering the company that the champion has kept over the years (Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, Matt Serra, Josh Koscheck, Thiago Alves, etc), that’s high praise. But it’s still little consolation to the ultra-competitive Fitch.

“I’m not big on moral victories,” he smiles. “I’m proud of the work I did to get to that position and I’m proud of the work I did in that fight, but I wasn’t complete at that time, and I think I’ve done the work from then to now to complete myself as a fighter.”

That work involved watching the tape of the fight “at least a hundred times”, drilling, practicing, and still finding time to prepare for and execute wins over Akihiro Gono and Paulo Thiago. That’s a full-time job right there.

“I’ve been breaking it (the St-Pierre fight) down, seeing what I did wrong, and then working on what I need to do to fix those things,” he said. “I haven’t watched that fight in a while, and I don’t think I need to watch it because I’ve examined it so many times from so many different angles. I’m a much better fighter and athlete now than when we fought the first time, and I think it will be a different story if we fought today.”

But that’s just Fitch being polite to an interviewer asking him about something that has nothing to do with December 12th. For him, the only thing that matters now is beating Mike Pierce, because without a win over Pierce, he won’t be seeing a rematch with St-Pierre anytime soon. In fact, it looked like Fitch wasn’t going to see a fight at all before the end of the year as his original opponent, Ricardo Almeida, was scratched due to injury, followed by replacement foe Thiago Alves, who was also forced to the sidelines. Not surprisingly, Fitch kept his cool during the MMA version of musical chairs.

“I’ve been in the game a long time and I know things can happen,” he said. “I’m just thankful that I still have a fight. I keep my eyes focused on what I need to improve and become a better fighter. I try not to let the names of the guys I’m fighting affect me in any way because regardless of who I’m fighting, I still have to perform to my own expectations.”

Of course that cool under fire gets easier to develop when you’ve had a few mishaps before.

“I think I handle it pretty well now. It’s more something I laugh about than get stressed about. Before I got in the UFC, I had a lot of fights that would fall through last second, and those were very stressful and I think they prepared me for this type of thing. I had a stretch of nine months where I didn’t fight because I had opponents pull out a week before, and I had whole shows fall apart a few days before the event happened, so I think those things prepared me for this stuff.”

And once Pierce was penciled in as his UFC 107 opponent, it was off to the gym to get ready, but Fitch apparently had another dilemma as three of his welterweight teammates – Mike Swick, Josh Koscheck, and Phil Baroni – had all just finished their UFC bouts. As the last of the quartet to fight, would finding fresh training partners who weren’t banged up after their fights be an issue?

“We still have a deep roster at our gym and we have a lot of guys that are up and comers that push us and make us work,” said Fitch. “I’ve still got Trevor Prangley hanging around and he ain’t no slouch and plenty of younger guys who make practice difficult for me on a daily basis.”

But if Fitch does have one wish for the future, it’s that he gets to step in the Octagon first, because watching his teammates fight is a unique form of torture for the 31-year old.

“It’s so much worse watching them fight than fighting yourself because you have no control over the situation,” he said. “As you watch things unfold, you can’t step in and help them when they need it. It’s hard to watch. I’d much rather be fighting myself than watching any of my friends and teammates fight.”

He finally gets his chance this weekend – not only to fight, but to make it 3-0 in 2009. Mike Pierce may have something to say about that though.

“He’s relentless with his wrestling, his positioning is very good, and his control on top is very good,” said Fitch of his opponent. “He’s also got fairly heavy hands. He’s not the fastest, smoothest or slickest, but he has put guys away with his hands, so he’s got power and you’ve got to respect that. I’ve also got to make sure I win all the wrestling battles. Anytime we’re in close and in a position to wrestle, I have to dominate and I have to win those positions. I don’t think he’s a submission threat, but he’s definitely a dangerous opponent.”

Then again, so is the Captain, who isn’t worried about the fact that he missed Thanksgiving in order to get ready for this fight. It’s a small sacrifice to make in order to pursue greatness.

“Being a wrestler, we’re used to not having any holidays,” laughs the former Purdue Boilermaker. “We gotta make due when we can.”