For all of the talk about Carlos Condit‘s lack of aggression in his interim title fight with slugger Nick Diaz, he was undeniably successful in claiming the interim welterweight championship for himself. Condit’s lack of aggression in remaining busy while waiting on champion Georges St. Pierre? Not so much.
Not only does Condit’s inactivity make the interim championship absolutely meaningless (it’s just a glorified number one contender bout without a defense of the title), Condit is neglecting his biggest advantage in a title fight with GSP: his health.
We’ve seen what a long layoff can do to a fighter; “ring rust” has been thrown around as an excuse for poor performance on more than one occasion. By patiently waiting on GSP to make a full recovery, Condit runs the risk of going into the biggest fight of his life with some ring rust of his own.
The pros of taking a fight before taking on GSP in a championship bout far outweigh the negatives of waiting around.
Firstly, Condit could earn himself more money.
With a nickname like “The Natural Born Killer,” you’d better be looking for a finish every time. In the eyes of MMA fans, you are only as good as your fight, and despite coming away victorious, Condit definitely lost himself some fans with his gameplan against Nick Diaz.
With Condit’s new-found “safe” style and GSP’s penchant for playing it safe, the UFC will have a hard time selling hardcore fans on the idea of GSP-Condit being an exciting match.
Condit can do something about that.
By taking a fight with one of the top contenders in the welterweight division, Condit can show that he is not afraid to prove he deserves the title, and that his “safe” game-plan was more of an anomaly then a new trend.
Condit could also use another fight to prepare himself for GSP. The appeal of a GSP-Diaz fight was that Diaz was the antithesis of St. Pierre, both in and out of the cage.
In short, styles make fights, so a win over Nick Diaz has little to do with preparing to beat the long time champion St. Pierre.
St. Pierre possesses elite wrestling and his grappling is unquestionably among the sports’ best. Given Condit’s struggles against Rory McDonald’s strength, Condit would be wise to fight a wrestler before taking on one of the most explosive fighters in the sport.
Lastly, Condit needs to remain active while waiting on GSP to recover because he may be waiting longer than he thinks.
With ACLs, it is impossible to tell how long full recovery will take. Given GSP’s personality, we shouldn’t expect to see him in the octagon until he is 100-percent sure that he is ready to defend his title. While everything we’ve heard has pointed to this fall being the latest for a comeback, one setback could substantially delay his recovery and leave Condit waiting even longer.
Condit must remain active to give himself the best shot at claiming the true welterweight championship.
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