UFC Welterweight SuperStar Jon Fitch in Canada Doing Promotions
Monday January 21, 2008
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Day 1: Jon Fitch hosts UFC 80 viewing at the Diesel Playhouse. Day 2: MMA seminar at Ultimate Martial Arts in Scarborough hosted by Jon Fitch.
Jon’s trip to Toronto started off with a few snags. His flight was supposed to land in Toronto around 6pm. He was delayed in San Jose because there was frost on the wings of the plane – and apparently the guy who is in charge of removing frost from planes in San Jose, California isn’t very busy and was nowhere to be found. Jon tells me this quick tidbit as he makes his way into the Diesel Playhouse to host the afternoon live viewing of UFC 80: Rapid Fire. He continues on and tells me that his girlfriend’s luggage was lost in transition and she was out at the mall buying a new wardrobe, which consequently isn’t an unbearable task for women to have to do.
For an afternoon showing, the Diesel Playhouse was a busy place. The final count on the event was around 225 people who came out to enjoy the fights and get an autograph and picture with Jon. MMA Fight Gear Canada in association with Staredown Fight Wear and MMACanada.net sponsored the Jon Fitch meet and greet and Staredown gave out some great prize packs throughout the night.
‘Showdown’ Joe Ferraro was the MC for the afternoon and showed why he is Canada’s leading MMA media personality. Between fights, Jon and Joe took to the stage and Joe led some great ‘mini’ interviews with Jon, which led to some very interesting comments from the Welterweight contender. Jon stated that because he’s been able to watch how Georges has won his last two fights against his stable mate, Josh Koscheck – as well as against Matt Hughes last month, that he has a leg up and knows how to formulate a game plan to beat Georges in the future. Joe asked the audience some trivia questions and handed out Staredown gear to the lucky ones with the right answers. After the fights, Jon took the time out to meet and interact with his fans. He signed autographs and took pictures until everyone had filed through. Jon was a great guy and was asked on more than one occasion to flash his infamous ‘scowl’ for fan photo opportunities.
The next day Jon hosted a seminar which was sponsored by Staredown Fight Wear and MMA Fight Gear Canada at Ultimate Martial Arts in Scarborough, Ontario. The seminar was attended by approximately 35 eager students. Jon demonstrated some takedowns, as well as a bunch of takedown defensive positions and transitions. He keyed into some ground work and how to retain optimal positioning on the ground. He worked some Jiu-Jitsu with the students but focused mainly on wrestling and its’ importance in the fight game. The seminar students were afforded the opportunity to grab a picture with Jon and MMA Fight Gear provided pictures for Jon to sign for all of the students. Jon is obviously passionate about teaching what his years of training have taught him as he went approximately an hour over the schedule timeframe and could have gone all evening if he could. The students definitely got their money’s worth for the seminar.
A big thanks to Jon Fitch for making his way up to Toronto, and as well as to the Diesel Playhouse and Myles from the Substance Entertainment Group for putting together another top notch event and to Paul at Ultimate Martial Arts for opening his doors for another fantastic seminar at his gym. Alright fight fans – keep your eyes open for more seminars and for more great UFC events.
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