Will A Black Belt Pave The Path To Victory For Jon Fitch?

July 2, 2008

by: Dorothy Willis

Jon Fitch has just been awarded a black belt by Dave Camarillo his instructor who invented the Guerrilla Ju-jitsu form combining Brazilian ju-jitsu and judo.

Fitch a former Division I wrestler for Purdue University, trains in Camarillo's camp where Josh Thomson and Mike Swick also train. Camarillo himself trained under Ralph Gracie and has a black belt in judo.

To many fans of MMA a black belt in any mixed martial arts form translates to the guarantee of success in the cage.

Jen Aniamo said with the assurance of an MMA fighter in her article "Jujitsu Black Belt? You Should Care" that "The ability of a Jujitsu black belt to win in the UFC cannot be disputed."

I have not spoken with Ms. Aniamo about this new development in the up-coming UFC 87 "Seek and Destroy," match between Jon Fitch and WW belt holder Georges St. Pierre, but from her thesis I would imagine that she would expect Jon to beat Georges by virtue of his new black belt.

Although Fitch is on a winning streak, St. Pierre has won the WW championship for the second time and will not likely give it up without a battle. Will Fitch's black belt trump the holder of the WW belt?

On more occasions than I can count I have heard it said that Georges, a natural athlete and a practitioner of many forms of mixed martial arts, is "the future of MMA."

Training out of Greg Jackson's renowned camp in Albuquerque, N.M., Georges has trained with some of the best in the sport. Jackson is his friend and helps him with pre-fight game planning.

Georges also trains at Tri-Star gym in Montreal, and has recently returned to his Canadian home from tuning up his Bjj skills in Brazil.

If this were a battle of the belts, I do not even know if Georges has a black one, so I honestly do not know who has the advantage there, all I do know is that the August 9, fight is going to be a fast and furious one that can go in any direction at any time.

From experience as an MMA fan, I only know that in this sport nothing is ever for certain, except that at the end, the belt on the winner will be gold, and not black.

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