Jon Fitch ‘on the fence’ regarding retirement

MMAfighting.com

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Shortly after his opponent, Rory MacDonald, seemed to question whether he had it in him to continue, Jon Fitch said his majority draw against MacDonald on Saturday night at Bellator 220 may have been his last fight as well.

Fitch, 41, said that due to neck damage and bad brain scan results he got prior to his Dec. 2016 fight with Jake Shields, he told himself at the time that if he lost that fight, or when he lost his next fight, that he promised himself he would retire.

“I didn’t lose, so I don’t know if I should keep that promise,” Fitch said. “But there’s a good chance it’s my last time. Now, if I got offered the Neiman Gracie fight, it’ll be hard to turn down a chance to win $1 million (which goes to the winner of the current eight-man Bellator welterweight tournament).

“I thought I did enough to win,” Fitch added regarding the majority draw decision. “The judges didn’t see it the way I saw it. Two judges had it a draw and one thought I won, so I thought I won. It was a good performance. I got a few stitches to take home with me.

“Going into the fifth, my corner told me we definitely had to win the round to seal the deal.

“I thought split decision, but I thought I did enough to win. The crowd reaction indicated they thought I won.

“I’m on the fence about walking away,” he continued. “I’ve done a lot in this sport, Forty-two pro fights, two amateur fights, 17 years of training, and I started wrestling at nine. I’ve been banging heads for a long time. It’s up to me, how I feel. I want to get some picture and see how my body is holding up. I can’t straighten my arms. I’ve lost an inch in reach, and that’s not a good thing. But it’s fun. I have fun doing it.”

Fitch said he has no doubt that he would be ready for a June 14 date in Madison Square Garden if for some reason MacDonald won’t be. In fact, he said if he was going to fight again, he’d like for it to be as soon as possible.

“I’m not getting any younger,” he said.