Jon Fitch believes athletic commissions could use fresh faces at the judging table.
Fitch challenged Rory MacDonald for the Bellator welterweight title on April 27. The bout served as the final opening round match in the Bellator Welterweight World Grand Prix. After five rounds of action, the bout was ruled a majority draw with two judges scoring it even and another giving the fight to Fitch. Since Fitch failed to capture the 170-pound gold, he has been eliminated from the tournament.
Jon Fitch Calls For New Judges
Fitch spoke to BJPenn.com following the draw. He thought he should’ve had his hand raised against MacDonald:
“I don’t know. I’m still kind of in shock as you don’t think that would be a possible outcome. I prepare for the win or the loss, not a tie. I think I won, I think I should be moving on. Now, I just have to sit back and be prepared. I’m probably going to be the first alternate in case someone gets hurt along the way. ‘Crazy’ Bob [Cook] knows we have bad luck so he wasn’t ready to say I had won it yet. He was thinking I was going to win a split decision. Rest of my corner thought we won at least three rounds after watching it back I am pretty certain I won four rounds. So I am not sure what the judges were watching. I don’t know what is going on. We need some new people judging fights I guess.”
Fitch has said that Bellator 220 may have been his last fight. At the age of 41 and with 42 professional MMA bouts under his belt, Fitch’s time may have run out.
