UFC 143 - Soft Spoken Condit Wants His Shot, Finally Gets It at UFC 143

“The Natural Born Killer”, Carlos Condit has slain many a foe in his WEC and UFC careers. He was the last WEC Welterweight Champion, and ended his run in the WEC in 2008 with a 5-0 record.
When the WEC’s welterweight roster was absorbed by the UFC in 2008, Carlos Condit made his debut against Martin Kampmann. In the closest fight of the year, Condit lost a split decision to Kampmann. He moved on to fight Jake Ellenberger next, and got another split decision, but this time he was on the right side of it.
After winning his first fight in the UFC, but still being at 1-1 inside the promotion, Condit had to prove himself before moving up in competition. He was scheduled to fight UFC newcomer Rory MacDonald, and put on a Fight of the Night performance. The fight looked to be going MacDonald’s way until late in the third round, Condit caught MacDonald with an elbow, and finished him off with punches with just seven seconds left in the fight.
After finishing MacDonald, Condit was given Dan Hardy, fresh off of a title shot loss. His biggest jump in competition yet came in the form of a talented striker, who showed the ability to escape submissions in his fight against the champion, Georges St-Pierre. Condit proved to be the better striker as he landed a left hook that floored Hardy. After swarming him with punches on the ground, the fight was called in the first round. Condit cruised past Hardy, becoming the first man to ever defeat him by knockout, and awaited Chris Lytle.
Condit and Lytle had been scheduled to meet before. At UFC Fight Night 19, where he faced Ellenberger, Condit was originally scheduled to face off against the fan favorite, but Lytle was forced out because of a knee injury sustained in training. Their next scheduled meeting was to be at UFC 127, but Condit had his own knee injury this time around.
After recovering without surgery, Condit was given the tough task of stopping Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 132. Kim came into the bout a highly regarded Judoka, and undefeated. Condit won the fight in stunning fashion, when he landed a spectacular flying knee that threw Kim against the cage. From there, he finished Kim with strikes to hand Kim his first loss.
After defeating Kim in brutal fashion, Condit was given another massive step up in competition when he was set to square off against UFC legend, B.J. Penn at UFC 137. Problems arose, and the UFC 137 card underwent a facelift. Nick Diaz, who was scheduled to fight Georges St-Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship, missed the pre-fight press conference, and was disciplined by being removed from the fight. Carlos Condit was given the opportunity of a lifetime, promoted to the main event and given the chance to fight for St-Pierre’s strap.
St-Pierre tweaked his knee in training for their bout, and withdrew from the fight. Condit was subsequently pulled from the card altogether, awaiting St-Pierre’s return. Diaz went on to defeat Penn via unanimous decision, and in the UFC 137 post-fight press conference UFC President Dana White announced that Carlos Condit had agreed to step aside and let Diaz fight St-Pierre for the title. Condit’s manager Malki Kawa later confirmed this statement to be untrue. As St-Pierre had recovered quickly from his first knee injury scare, he injured the same knee severely as he tore his anterior cruciate ligament, one of the most serious injuries an athlete can suffer. St-Pierre was forced out of any possible bout with Diaz, and underwent surgery.
With St-Pierre possibly out in excess of 10 months, White was forced to create an interim belt, with Condit and Diaz squaring off for the rights to it. An interesting shuffle has led to one of the most exciting bouts of the year.
Condit isn’t called “The Natural Born Killer” for no reason. He holds 13 knockout wins in his career, and many of them are true knockouts like what fans saw versus Hardy and Kim. Not the type where the referee runs in and stops the fight and the loser rolls over, but where the referee runs in to save the guy’s life and the loser simply lies there, wondering where they are. Condit has finished a fight time and time again; he has only been to three decisions in his 32-fight career. Nick Diaz holds similar accolades, finishing 21 of his 26 professional wins.
The biggest difference in these two fighters is the technicality of their striking. Diaz throws crisp, calculated strikes, whereas Condit throws power punches. Diaz will wear Condit out with his striking, and frustrate him with his movements. The reach is even, Condit is an inch taller and they both prefer a pure boxing style of striking. I really see Diaz’s volume punching playing a big role in this one. Diaz wins a relatively close one by unanimous decision.