Athletes
Jason Witt Is Searching For Consistency
UFC Welterweight Jason Witt Is Determined To Get A Win Over Josh Quinlan At UFC Fight Night: Vera vs Cruz And Then Put Together A Win Streak.
Even though Jason Witt is best known for getting into some wild fistfights for a living, the Kansas City native has scored eight of his 19 pro MMA wins via submission, and in February, he received his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt from longtime coach Jason Bircher.
So how long did it take?
“Way too f**king long,” laughed Witt, who will get to break that belt in on Saturday against Octagon newcomer Josh Quinlan. All joking aside, though, the honor means a lot to the 35-year-old, who always worked on his ground game, even if it always wasn’t in a gi.
Don't Miss Any Of UFC Fight Night: Vera vs Cruz
“I started jiu-jitsu with him (Bircher) and he's one of those guys that understood the career choice I wanted to make,” said Witt. “He understood that I wanted to be in MMA and wanted to be in the UFC, so I wasn't gonna be in a gi all the time. And so it probably took me 13 years full-on trying to get it (the black belt) just because I wasn't always in the gym.”
And when Witt had some extra training time outside of his MMA work at the Glory MMA and Fitness gym earlier this year. His hard work was rewarded.
“I just came back one day to get some extracurricular training outside of Glory, and I was presented with it and I was very surprised, but it was probably the best surprise I ever had in my life,” Witt said. “It validates that, hey, I'm not just a lunatic out here wrestling sweaty men for no reason. (Laughs) There's levels to it and there's reasons why we do the things we love to do.”
One thing Witt loves more than anything else is getting into a fight, and that’s how he’s made his name through five trips to the Octagon. Sometimes that’s been a good thing; sometimes it hasn’t been. So while he’s established his grappling bonafides, don’t expect him to be looking for flying armbars this weekend.
MORE UFC SAN DIEGO: Fighters On The Rise | Preview Every Fight
“I like fighting,” he admits. “I like grappling because nobody can hit me most times at that point, but I like hitting people. I don't like when I get hit, but I like hitting people.”
So in other words, business as usual this weekend in San Diego?
“I'm the same old, same old,” Witt said. “I know what I'm good at and I stick to that. I'm good at grappling, good at wrestling and I'm good at putting people in positions that make them work harder than I'm working. I don't want to work hard, that sounds like no fun at all. (Laughs) But I've definitely worked pretty hard on what I've been doing, and I know it's cliché to say because I say it every time, but I'm fine-tuning the details. I know how to fight, I know what to do, I'm getting better in certain aspects, and it's hard to understand that you're getting better, but you have to look at the small details of what you're getting better at. It's not like you're making huge strides 15 years later; you're making small little details that add up over time, and that's where I'm at.”
He’s in a lot different place in his career than Quinlan is. The Hawaii native is making his UFC debut in his seventh pro fight, a time Witt remembers well in his own career. Well, maybe not so well.
UFC Vegas 12: Jason Witt secures his 8th submission win in Las Vegas
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there’s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world’s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
UFC Vegas 12: Jason Witt secures his 8th submission win in Las Vegas
/
“I don't even remember that was so long ago,” laughs “The Vanilla Gorilla,” whose seventh pro fight was against Josh Tulley in a Kansas City Fighting Alliance show in April of 2015. “Josh Tulley was a guy who was knocking a bunch of people out. I fought him in a three-round war, defended the KCFA belt and that made me 5-2.”
Witt wasn’t within striking distance of the UFC at that point, and he wouldn’t make it to the big show until his 23rd fight in 2020. But if he would have gotten the call before the Tulley bout, would he have been ready.
“Not at all,” he said. “At that time, I would have said yes, but looking back at it, I would say no. You don't know what you don't know. I was good at stuff, but I wasn't UFC level. And I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and I think me getting in the UFC when I did was the right timing. Even though I lost the fight (to Takashi Sato in June 2020), it was 48 hours' notice and that was what I needed for myself to be in the UFC.”
Order UFC 278: Usman vs Edwards 2
He’s gone 2-2 since, with a submission of Cole Williams and a Fight of the Night decision win over Bryan Barberena surrounded by losses to Matthew Semelsberger and Phil Rowe. If we’re going by his current win-loss pattern, he’s due for a victory on Saturday, but Witt wouldn’t be content with getting a W by the luck of the draw. He wants this weekend to be the start of a run where consistency is his hallmark, and he believes he knows what it takes to get there.
“Man, just what I'm doing now - blue collar, hard work,” he said. “I'm gonna have to beat Josh Quinlan. I can't keep going win one fight, lose one fight, win one fight, lose a fight. It just doesn't work that way. So I gotta set up a consistency of winning a couple fights back-to-back. Beating big names like Bryan Barberena really helped out a lot, but I have to stay consistent with what I'm doing.”
UFC Fight Night: Vera vs Cruz took place live from Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California on August 13, 2022. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive all the action on UFC Fight Pass!
Tags
