[Cat--Smasher]

Fitch: I'm really looking for the 'Fight of the Night' bonus

"Honestly it has to be," Fitch told Bleacher Report in regard to the next chapter of his career. "If this fight doesn't go the way I need it to, I'm kind of at a loss of what to do next. Losing fights is not paying the bills. It is not really an option for me to go out there and not perform well or not put on a good show. I'm really looking for the 'Fight of the Night' bonus. That is something which is really going to put some distance between me and financial problems.

"Fans are going to see a man who is highly motivated and a man who is driven to perform well. They are going to see a man who has to perform well, not just for himself, but for his family and career."

"My intention is to drop him into deep water," Fitch said. "He's a prospect, very explosive, with a lot of ability, but he hasn't been tested. In his career leading up to the UFC, he wasn't really tested. That can mislead a lot of people and the fighters themselves because fast knockouts or fast finishes over opponents who get finished and knocked out often could build a false sense of confidence."

"I think that concept is a little bit lost in MMA today," Fitch said. "On top of that, I believe I receive unfair criticism. If you look at the guys I've fought and the fighters I've been matched up against, they are not people who get finished often or ever. I think that is lost on a lot of people. Take a guy like Mike Pierce who has never been finished. A guy like Akihiro Gono, who at the time I fought him, had been finished four times in a 15-year career. He's fought guys like Dan Henderson. He's fought multiple times against opponents several weight classes past his size. The list goes on with a lot of the guys I've fought.

Fitch: I'm really looking for the 'Fight of the Night' bonus - Mixed Martial Arts News