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NFL Kickoff concert
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2008 Venice Film Festival
2008 VMA nominations
Jon Fitch's record performance nets UFC welterweight title shot
Monday, March 03, 2008
UFC welterweight Jon Fitch will finally get his title shot, but he had to tie a mixed martial arts legend's long-standing record to get it.
Fitch, a native of Fort Wayne, Ind., won his eighth straight UFC fight with a unanimous-decision over Chris Wilson on Saturday, March 1, at UFC 82. The event took place at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
Extras
The eight straight victories tie a record set by UFC hall-of-famer Royce Gracie, the Godfather of MMA. He set the mark in the very early days of the UFC in 1994.
"It's pretty humbling to be mentioned in the same breath as him," Fitch said.
While the former Purdue University wrestling captain has won eight straight in the UFC, his overall win streak is 15 fights going back to July 2003.
"This kid, in my opinion ... he has the Chuck Liddell mentality," said UFC president Dana White, referring to the UFC's iconic superstar. "This kid will fight anyone, anywhere ... He's definitely paid his dues.
"He is in line for a title shot once this whole Matt Serra and Georges St. Pierre thing gets figured out."
UFC welterweight champ Serra meets interim title-holder St. Pierre next month at UFC 83. Serra defeated St. Pierre for the title in April 2007, but a back injury has kept him from defending it. St. Pierre earned a victory over Matt Hughes in December to win the interim belt.
Fitch will likely face the winner later this summer.
Coleman's surprise
His induction into the UFC Hall of Fame wasn't the surprise. It was Mark Coleman's announcement after the UFC 82 ceremony that raised some eyebrows. Coleman, an Ohio State wrestling legend and the first-ever UFC heavyweight champion, became just the fifth fighter inducted into the UFC's hall. However, the induction didn't mark the end of his career, but rather, a new beginning.
The 43-year-old will come out of a two-year retirement to fight UFC rookie and former World Wrestling Entertainment performer Brock Lesnar in August.
No topping UFC 68
UFC 82 couldn't top last year's record-breaking UFC 68 event in Columbus.
UFC 68 set UFC bests for attendance (19,049) and live gate ($3 million). However, UFC 82 fell just shy of a sellout with 16,431 attendees. It registered a $2.2 million gate.
Dann Stupp is editor-in-chief of MMAjunkie.com, a content-partner site of Yahoo! Sports. Check out www.mmajunkie.com for more on UFC 82.
