Jon Fitch has never been one to quietly participate in anything.

As the sole driving force toward personal his well-being and success, the Indiana native turned California transplant has always believed in knowing the score to ensure his navigation can hold true to his cause. And when operating in the shark-filled waters of the fight game that quest is never easy.

Nevertheless, Fitch has stood up for his rights at every turn and faced scrutiny, scorn and financial losses because of it. His time in the UFC came and went, but even in the years after competing inside the Octagon, Fitch has never stopped fighting for what he's believed in throughout his entire career, which is more rights for those athletes who put it all on the line when they step into the cage.

Yet, while there has been progress made in regard to fighter's speaking up, Fitch believes there is only one solution that will ultimately make a difference.

"Not having a sanctioning body in mixed martial arts is the problem," Fitch said. "Until that day comes there is always going to be chaos.

"The current business model is not going to do anything. We need an independent sanctioning body and what I mean by that is the NFL, NHL and NBA are sanctioning bodies. Those sanctioning bodies don't sign contracts with the athletes. The team owners do, and in MMA, those team owners would be promoters. Now in those other cases teams play against one another and that's cross promotion.

"It's not the Los Angeles Laker's union because they would have no leverage. It's under the NBA. The reason that's important is because your rank and title should mean something, and right now those things don't mean anything in MMA."

Throughout his career Fitch has been an elite-tier staple in the welterweight division and a champion on stages he's competed upon. That said, without an independent governing body, those accolades and hardware don't hold value beyond a promotional standpoint.



"Even the belts don't mean anything," Fitch said. "They are just jewelry. The UFC told Markwayne Mullin in his office their titles aren't world championship titles, it's just an award they bestow on the best fighter on the night of the event. That's the UFC's own look on that scenario, and if it's just a piece of jewelry then you have no negotiating power with that because you can be stripped of it at any time.

"If you get cut from that organization you lose your ranking, title and all of your worth. I was ranked ninth in the world when the UFC cut me and after that happened I was off the charts and not ranked anywhere. I lost all my negotiating power.

"Floyd Mayweather is the WBC/WBA champion and even if he sold off his promotion and competed elsewhere, he's still going to be the champion of those sanctioning bodies. If you are the number one quarterback in the NFL and you play for the Dallas Cowboys but signed on with the New York Jets as a free agent you are still going to be the number one quarterback in the league. You're not going to get stripped of that just because you left Dallas."

Leading up to his showdown with Brian Foster in the main event at Professional Fighters League's debut card, Fitch is particularly energized and increasingly concerned with the state of the sport he loves. The former WSOF welterweight champion and a collection of other fighters have long been lobbying for the implementation of the Muhammad Ali Act in MMA--a fight he believes has shown positive progress in.

Yet, the UFC has made numerous trips to Washington D.C. to push back against the expansion of the Muhammad Ali Act into MMA and Fitch believes this to be just another example of everything wrong with the sport itself in its current form.

"The UFC has spent more than a million and a half trying to stop the Ali Act from reaching MMA," Fitch said. "That means they'll spend more trying to stop free trade among fighters than they are willing to pay the fighters who compete for them. It's unscrupulous. Yet, the Fertitta brothers who created this mess have sold the company and are gone. I'd really love WME to step up and do the right thing because everyone is going to make more money.

"It's crazy because they've created a narrative that has then been pushed in a PR-like manner. One of the most common arguments is there are too many titles in boxing and they don't want it to become like that because it's too hard to keep track. That's crazy because you can count the titles in boxing on two hands where every promotion in MMA has titles. Furthermore, every weight class in every promotion has titles and that shows the market is robust enough for that to be the case.

"If there wasn't money there to pay people to compete in those weight classes those weight classes wouldn't exist."

And while Fitch has maintained his fighting spirit outside the cage, he'll step back in to handle the physical business once more against Foster on June 30. The former Purdue University standout turned king of the grind has been optimistic as the promotion he's called home for the past several years have rebranded and shifted directions, and believes his upcoming fight with Foster will be a strong step into the future for himself and PFL.

"World Series of Fighting have always been good to me and I have zero complaints with them," Fitch said. "They have shifted what their company is doing non-stop since they started so new sponsors and investors are the norm. Nothing is ever the same so changes here never cause me to panic or worry in anyway. The new investors are bringing some serious money and that's a great thing.

"I always takes what comes easiest in the fight. I set traps to make the guy make mistakes and I train hard so I can fight easy. I don't have to win in any certain way. I use pressure to make my opponents make mistakes then I capitalize on them. I've greatly improved my standup. I'm the superior wrestler and grappler, I have cardio for days and I have a little bit of a size advantage.

"I have to keep my defense tight, my game plan tight and apply the pressure over and over until I break this guy."