Thread: Disciplined Carlos Condit tops stifled Nick Diaz, wins interim title

Disciplined Carlos Condit tops stifled Nick Diaz, wins interim title



Carlos Condit solved one of the most challenging puzzles in MMA.

The former WEC champ implemented a remarkably effective game plan and won the UFC's interim welterweight title by stifling ever-active but ultimately frustrated ex-Strikeforce titleholder Nick Diaz, who suggested he may retire after the loss.

The fight headlined UFC 143 and aired on pay-per-view from Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Events Center. Prelims aired on FX and streamed on Facebook.

After an intense staredown that prompted commission officials to separate the fighters, Condit soon went to work.

Condit used a stick-and-move game plan early, and he unloaded a steady stream of low kicks. Diaz stalked and tried to walk him down with punches, but Condit's quick jab, low kicks, quick resets and slick footwork kept Diaz from putting together any of his trademark barrages. After Condit's failed spinning elbow, Diaz briefly clinched, but Condit circled away and stuck to the stick-and-move game plan, which prompted some trash-talk from his opponent.

Diaz found his range early in the second round and put together some combinations. Condit just missed on a spinning back fist, and Diaz soon continued the trash-talk and mixed in some taunting. Condit, though, continued moving in and out of range with punches and kicks. Diaz landed some two-punch combos, but Condit either countered with kicks or body punches before circling away and further frustrating his opponent during a close round that MMAjunkie.com ultimately scored for Diaz.

In the third, Diaz again chased with punches and looked to corner Condit against the cage. Condit ate a few punches, but he returned counter-shots before circling away and resetting. Once in the open, Condit worked low kicks, and in the clinch, he quickly countered before getting out of Diaz's range. Diaz pawed his jab, stalked and taunted, but undeterred Condit ignored it, began to open up with long-range strikes, and traded some heavy blows. Diaz was the aggressor and landed some solid punches, but Condit had the edge.

As the bout entered the championship fourth round, Condit was up two rounds to one on the MMAjunkie.com scorecard. Diaz continued his struggle to corner his opponent, and Condit continued changing levels and using effective footwork to avoid extended exchanges. Diaz eventually clinched and put him against the cage, but Condit fended off the single-leg takedown. Low kicks, body punches and head kicks landed with more frequency for Condit, and Diaz again failed on a single-leg takedown before eating a knee and losing another round.

Knowing he needed the round, Diaz charged forward and looked for openings in the finale frame. But Condit's elusiveness game plan remained effective. Once in the open, Condit landed solid lunging punches and kicks from varying angles. Even when Diaz finally closed the distance, his quick punches were quickly countered and left Diaz unable to gain momentum. Late in the fight, though, Diaz scored the fight's first takedown, took Condit's back, secured a body lock and worked for the rear-naked choke. He had a minute to work and methodically attempted to secure the choke, but Condit fended it off and survived.

Despite the pre-fight bad blood, the strategic bout ended in an embrace. However, it obviously wasn't a typical Diaz fight, and Condit was rewarded because of it.

MMAjunkie.com scored the fight 49-46 for Condit (with him winning every round but the second). The judges largely concurred, and "The Natural Born Killer" earned the unanimous-decision victory via 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46 scores.

"It's pretty surreal," he said. "I couldn't have done it without my coaches. I did what they told me, and I walked away with the victory.

"Hat's off to Nick Diaz. That guy is a warrior."

With the win, Condit (28-5 MMA, 5-1 UFC) is guaranteed a title fight with recovering champ Georges St-Pierre, though manager Malki Kawa recently told MMAjunkie.com they'd consider taking another fight to avoid an extended layoff.

Diaz (27-8 MMA, 7-5 UFC), meanwhile, suggested this could be his last fight.

"I've not going to accept the fact that this is a loss," Diaz said. "I pushed him back the whole fight, I walked him down, and I was the guy on top.

"You guys pay me a ton, but I don't think I'm getting enough to keep going on. ... I don't need this [expletive]. I pushed this guy back the whole fight. ... I don't want to play this game anymore."

Diaz is probably just saying it cus he lost and wasn't expecting condit to last. He even gave props to Carlos. Media seemed to add more flavor to it than how it was... Think Diaz was just surprised to find out that theres always going to be a bigger and badder fish in the sea.

yea, everyone was saying that diaz won. But condit didn't let him fight diaz's fight. He did more damage, just look at both their faces right after the fight.

Not to mention condit threw and landed more punches than Diaz according to compustriker.

DIAZ GETS HIS ASS KICKED EVERY FIGHT EVEN WIN HE WINS ,CAUSE HES FOR REAL......... DIAZ CLEARLY WON THE FIGHT THIS ISNT HIGH SCHOOL, THIS IS A SPORT WITH A POINT SYSTEM ...... JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE IS BLEEDING OR HAS BIGGER MUSCLES DOESNT MEAN THEY SHOULD WIN OR LOSE.... BUT IM TOTALLY BIASED IM A HUGE DIAZ FAN AND THEY NEED MORE LIKE DIAZ ,BROCK,AND SONNENS IN THE SPORT...IF I WANTED TO WATCH RESPECTFUL PEOPLE ON TV I WOULD TURN ON JOEL OLSTEEN

I havent seen the fight yet but From what I hear Diaz should of walked away with the win . have heard comments like condit was on his bike all night . who saw the fight and did condit come to fight? or did he just show up to eek out a win ?

Originally Posted by alterntego

I havent seen the fight yet but From what I hear Diaz should of walked away with the win . have heard comments like condit was on his bike all night . who saw the fight and did condit come to fight? or did he just show up to eek out a win ?

That's a bad analogy. All he was doing was circling away from Diaz not letting himself getting pushed up against the fence. It was a brilliant game plan and Condit should get props for not getting sucked into Diazs game.

guess I'll find it on line somewhere . the best fights are the ones where both warriors show up to do battle and thats one of the things I like about those Diaz boys .