Jon Fitch

After graduating from Carroll High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana), Fitch enrolled at Purdue University in 1997 and graduated in 2002 with a bachelor's in physical education and a minor in history. As a walk-on to the Purdue wrestling team, Fitch – a four-year letterman – wrestled under the tutelage of Tom Erikson and eventually became the team captain of his wrestling squad. Fitch secured a starting spot early on in his career, but struggled to find initial success. Compiling an 8-23 record his sophomore season, Fitch impressively turned that around to compile an 18-12 record in his final year. He finished with a 45-51 record overall for his collegiate wrestling career.

Tom Erikson– a former PRIDE fighter – would occasionally bring other mixed martial artists to the wrestling gym, and Fitch would be introduced to such fighters as Mark Coleman and Gary Goodridge. The sport, and the money that the high-level fighters were making interested Fitch, and he started his mixed martial arts career in 2002.

In his next seven fights, Fitch fought at Middleweight and amassed wins over fighters such as Shonie Carter, Alex Serdyukov and Jeff Joslin. After failing to make the selection process for the first season of The Ultimate Fighter – a last-minute decision by the production team that left Fitch stranded in an airport with his luggage already boarded – he earned a shot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 3, 2005, where Fitch defeated Brock Larson by unanimous decision in a middleweight fight.

Fitch was released from the UFC on November 20, 2008. The dispute was over his reluctance to sign a lifetime contract to allow his name and likeness to be used in a video game the UFC released with THQ. In the end, Fitch ended up signing a licensing agreement that will allow the UFC to feature him in their UFC Undisputed video game release and returned to the UFC. Fitch's exile from the UFC lasted less than 24 hours.

Fitch was expected to fight Ricardo Almeida on November 21, 2009 at UFC 106 but, due to a knee injury sustained by Almeida, the fight was cancelled.

Fitch was then scheduled to face Thiago Alves in a highly anticipated rematch on December 12, 2009 at UFC 107. However, Alves suffered an injury and was replaced by Mike Pierce. Fitch won via unanimous decision.

Fitch was expected to finally face Thiago Alves on March 27, 2010 at UFC 111, but on March 25, 2010, Alves was forced off the card due to a brain irregularity that appeared on a pre fight CAT scan. However, Ben Saunders, who was previously scheduled to fight on the same card against Jake Ellenberger, requested that he fight Fitch instead and that fight took place on the main card. Fitch won the fight via unanimous decision.

Jon and his longtime girlfriend Michelle got engaged the day after UFC 100. The couple were married on September 4, 2010.

Fitch was expected to face Jake Ellenberger on February 5, 2011, at UFC 126. But after B.J. Penn defeated Matt Hughes at UFC 123, UFC president Dana White decided to match Fitch up against Penn at UFC 127 in Australia instead. At the end of the fight the scorecards of the judges were (29–28 Fitch, 28–28, and 28–28). It was declared a majority draw. When asked by Joe Rogan if Fitch would like a rematch, Fitch replied that he wants another title shot more than anything. No confirmation of a rematch resulted from the interview of either fighter.

A rematch with Penn was expected to take place on July 2, 2011, at UFC 132., but in late March, Fitch pulled out of the bout with an injury.

Fitch fought Johny Hendricks on December 30, 2011, at UFC 141. He was knocked out 12 seconds into the fight.

Fitch was expected to face Aaron Simpson on July 11, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman. However, Fitch pulled out of the bout citing a knee injury and was replaced by returning veteran Kenny Robertson.

Fitch defeated rising prospect Erick Silva via unanimous decision on October 13, 2012, at UFC 153, with the back-and-forth bout receiving Fight of the Night honors. In a prefight interview, Fitch mentioned that he was experiencing tremendous financial difficulties and that losing the fight would force him to end his full-time training so that he could get a day job to help support his family. After winning the fight, he said the victory had saved his MMA career.

Fitch next faced Demian Maia on February 2, 2013, at UFC 156. Fitch lost by unanimous decision and was subsequently released from the promotion, despite being a top 10 ranked welterweight and having a 14-3-1 record with the promotion overall. Fitch's release from the promotion caused much debate about the UFC "code of conduct" and the general "skill-demand" in UFC, as most commentators had not expected a single loss to lead to a release from the promotion.

On March 7, 2013, it was announced that Fitch signed a four-fight contract with World Series of Fighting. He made his promotional debut on June 14, 2013, at WSOF 3, in a rematch against Josh Burkman. Fitch was knocked down by a punch and then finished by Burkman due to a guillotine choke submission. Burkman became the second man to defeat Fitch by a submission, the first being Mike Pyle.

Fitch faced Marcelo Alfaya at WSOF 6 on October 26, 2013, winning via split decision. Despite spending most of the first round trapped in a body triangle defending against submission attempts, Fitch showed improved striking in a back-and-forth fight, dropping Alfaya and following up with heavy ground-and-pound in the third.

Fitch made a brief cameo in the award-winning mixed martial arts documentary Fight Life sparring with Jake Shields. The film was directed by James Z. Feng and released in 2013. Fitch is the main subject of the movie Such Great Heights which documents his preparations to fight Georges St. Pierre at UFC 87. The film was directed by Jonah Tulis and released in 2012.

In his third fight for the promotion, Fitch faced Dennis Hallman on July 5, 2014 at World Series of Fighting 11. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

In July, Fitch was scheduled to fight Rousimar Palhares at WSOF 11 for the WSOF Welterweight Championship. However, on April 30, 2014, Palhares pulled out of the fight due to personal reasons. The title fight was rescheduled for WSOF 16 on December 13, 2014. He lost the fight by kneebar in the first round. After the fight, it was revealed that Fitch had failed the California State Athletic Commission's pre-fight drug testing. The positive test results of Fitch, who had previously been vocal in his criticism of PED users in MMA, were almost certainly due to synthetic testosterone.

On December 16, 2014, Fitch was listed as one of three MMA fighters who filed a class-action lawsuit against Zuffa, LLC., the parent company of the UFC. The suit alleges that the UFC participated in anti-competitive practices that hindered fighters and their mixed martial arts careers.

Following his nine-month suspension, Fitch returned to the promotion on October 17, 2015 at WSOF 24. He faced Yushin Okami in the main event for the chance to fight for the vacant Welterweight title. Fitch won the bout by unanimous decision.

Fitch was lined up to face Jake Shields for the vacant WSOF welterweight championship at WSOF 30 on April 1, 2016. Though they have never competed together in an MMA contest, Shields holds a victory over Fitch in a submission grappling match. However, the match was later cancelled due to contract issues between Shields and the company. Fitch went on to face João Zeferino for the vacant WSOF Welterweight Championship. He won via unanimous decision.

On September 13, 2016, it was announced that Fitch would defend the WSOF Welterweight Championship against Jake Shields on November 12, 2016 at WSOF 34. On October 17, 2016, it was announced that the fight was then rescheduled to take place on December 31, 2016 in the co-main event. Fitch won the fight via unanimous decision.

In his second title defense for the now renamed league, Fitch faced Brian Foster on June 30, 2017 at Professional Fighters League 1, He won the fight in the second round due to submission, his first finish in ten years.

Fitch was signed by Bellator MMA, vacating WSOF Welterweight title, on March 1, 2018.

Fitch made his promotional debut against Paul Daley at Bellator 199 on May 12, 2018. He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Fitch next challenged Rory MacDonald in a welterweight title fight that was simultaneously the first round of Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix at Bellator 220 on April 27, 2019. The back-and-forth bout ended in a majority draw. Due to the fight ending in a draw, MacDonald retained the title and advanced to the semifinals.

Fitch faced Neiman Gracie at Bellator 246 on September 12, 2020. He lost the bout via second round submission and subsequently announced his retirement following the bout.