ROSEMEAD, Calif. – Dec. 11 is a huge night for Jon Fitch's career.
That's the date the perennial welterweight contender will get an idea of where he's headed in the near future. He could meet the winner of Martin Kampmann vs. Jake Shields, slated for next month's UFC 121 event, or the winner of UFC 124's Georges St-Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck title fight.
But Fitch also sees a move to the middleweight class not too far down the road, and that trip could be expedited if American Kickboxing Academy teammate Koscheck wins St-Pierre's welterweight belt this winter.
"We have a philosophy at our gym that it would be much better to have three belts at AKA than to have two belts, and then send two guys to fight for the same belt," Fitch told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) during a recent UFC Gym opening event in Rosemead, Calif. "So I feel like I can beat Anderson Silva, too, and GSP."
Teammate vs. teammate remains a taboo subject in AKA's stable. Following his win over Thiago Alves at UFC 117, Fitch told MMAjunkie.com Radio he will let Koscheck remain champion to avoid a possible showdown, though a $20 million payday might change his stance. But with that kind of payday about as likely as a UFC event on the White House lawn, the message was clear.
Mostly, though, Fitch and Koscheck have sidestepped questions about a potential meeting. It's often a condition of interviews that reporters not broach any questions about them fighting each other.
UFC president Dana White is staunchly opposed to AKA's unofficial policy and has promised it won't interfere with UFC matchmaking. Following UFC 117, he assured reporters that Koscheck and Fitch are coming around to the idea.
"What you're not hearing is 'No,'" White said following UFC 117. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. From what I understand of Fitch and know of Koscheck, I believe they have the desire, heart and spirit to take this fight. There have been guys before who say, 'No way. We won't fight.' They aren't saying that. They aren't saying no."
For now, Fitch is using his time in limbo to improve his skills.
"I've got to wait to hear what's next," he said. "For me, it's just about getting back to the gym. I have things that I have to improve on, specific things I have outlined that I want to improve before my next fight, especially if it's a title shot. So I have a little time to do that."
Although he is not yet in the position to give a definitive answer, Fitch said a very limited number of fights interest him in the welterweight division.
"GSP is first on my list," he said. "But by the time I win the belt at 170, there will be one or two fights left because I will have fought everybody else, and I'll want to move up. That's just where my career will progress.
"Just like the other guys who want to fight the best in the world, I'm the same way. It's always been my intention to clear out 170 and move up. It's just one guy left, and I've been chasing him since the last loss, and I'll continue to chase him until I beat him and get the welterweight title and move up."
Fitch (23-3 MMA, 13-1 UFC) made his professional debut in July 2002 as a light heavyweight but dropped to the middleweight class less than a year later. He then fought three times at 185 pounds before shedding more weight for a year-plus stint at welterweight. In his UFC debut, he bulked back up to meet Brock Larson as a middleweight at UFC Fight Night 2 but subsequently returned to the welterweight class, where he's remained until today.
The former Purdue University wrestler has just one blemish on his welterweight resume – a unanimous-decision loss to St-Pierre at UFC 87.
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