Carlos Condit: Win over Thiago Alves ‘will put me right back in title contention’

“The Natural Born Killer” returns to the Octagon 442 days after sustaining a knee injury in his fight with Tyron Woodley, and he wants to stop Thiago Alves.

Former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit headlines UFC Fight Night 67 at the Goiania Arena in Goiania on May 30, and he believes that he will back in title contention after finishing “Pitbull” in Brazil.

“A win over Thiago would be definitely good on my resume,” Condit told MMAFighting.com. “He’s always been a top guy in the division and even though he’s not ranked high right now, just because he was out for so long with injuries, I think a win over him will put me right back in title contention. Maybe one more fight, I get somebody tough, and then maybe another title show.”

Condit guarantees he’s “100 percent and ready to get back in the Octagon” despite the long layoff, but admits that his serious knee injury forced him to be patient and wait for the right moment to get back in training.

However, it also allowed him to work on new weapons.

“There’s always ring rust to think about, but, you know, on the positive side I think that I’ve definitely made some improvements and worked on some things on the time that I was out,” he said. “It was hard, but I got through it. I had to take my time to do my rehab on the knee, but I have a great physical therapist and it got strong when it was time. When I knew I was ready to go, I never thought twice about it.”

Condit also believes that the fact that his UFN 67 bout with Alves is a five-round fight benefits him, but he doesn’t see it lasting 25 minutes.

“I think my endurance and my conditioning is a weapon and I get stronger as the fight goes on,” he said. “Even though we’re strikers, we’re both well rounded MMA fighters. I think this fight is probably going to be all over the place. We’re going to show all different aspects of MMA. You know, wrestling, jiu-jitsu and striking. I think neither of us is looking for decisions. We’re both going in to finish the fight. It’s going to be exciting. The fight is going to be stopped. It’s not going to the judges.”

Like Condit, “Pitbull” Alves was also sidelined for years with multiple injuries, but came back with wins over Seth Baczynski and Jordan Mein.

“I thought Thiago looked really, really good against Seth Baczynski in his first fight back. I was really impressed with that,” Condit said. “The first round against Jordan Mein he was having a rough time, but he’s a veteran. He’s always dangerous, and he proved that. He went there and got it done in the second round.”

“The Natural Born Killer” returns to the Octagon 442 days after sustaining a knee injury in his fight with Tyron Woodley, and he wants to stop Thiago Alves.

Former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit headlines UFC Fight Night 67 at the Goiania Arena in Goiania on May 30, and he believes that he will back in title contention after finishing “Pitbull” in Brazil.

“A win over Thiago would be definitely good on my resume,” Condit told MMAFighting.com. “He’s always been a top guy in the division and even though he’s not ranked high right now, just because he was out for so long with injuries, I think a win over him will put me right back in title contention. Maybe one more fight, I get somebody tough, and then maybe another title show.”

Condit guarantees he’s “100 percent and ready to get back in the Octagon” despite the long layoff, but admits that his serious knee injury forced him to be patient and wait for the right moment to get back in training.

However, it also allowed him to work on new weapons.

“There’s always ring rust to think about, but, you know, on the positive side I think that I’ve definitely made some improvements and worked on some things on the time that I was out,” he said. “It was hard, but I got through it. I had to take my time to do my rehab on the knee, but I have a great physical therapist and it got strong when it was time. When I knew I was ready to go, I never thought twice about it.”

Condit also believes that the fact that his UFN 67 bout with Alves is a five-round fight benefits him, but he doesn’t see it lasting 25 minutes.

“I think my endurance and my conditioning is a weapon and I get stronger as the fight goes on,” he said. “Even though we’re strikers, we’re both well rounded MMA fighters. I think this fight is probably going to be all over the place. We’re going to show all different aspects of MMA. You know, wrestling, jiu-jitsu and striking. I think neither of us is looking for decisions. We’re both going in to finish the fight. It’s going to be exciting. The fight is going to be stopped. It’s not going to the judges.”

Like Condit, “Pitbull” Alves was also sidelined for years with multiple injuries, but came back with wins over Seth Baczynski and Jordan Mein.

“I thought Thiago looked really, really good against Seth Baczynski in his first fight back. I was really impressed with that,” Condit said. “The first round against Jordan Mein he was having a rough time, but he’s a veteran. He’s always dangerous, and he proved that. He went there and got it done in the second round.”