Carlos Condit isn’t another undersized and over the hill fighter Rory MacDonald can use as a stepping stone.
After dominating BJ Penn at UFC on Fox 5, MacDonald challenged Condit to a rematch of their epic June 2010 bout.
Initially, Condit found the challenge to be a bit odd. He felt like MacDonald came off as if some unjust act had been committed towards him. Perhaps there is a little resentment towards Condit, who handed MacDonald his first and only loss.
A part of it could also be how the fight ended.
Condit rallied after a rough start and stopped MacDonald in the third round with some of the most vicious ground-and-pound you’ll ever see in the Octagon.
During an interview with ESPN.com, Condit reminisced on what he calls the worst beating of MacDonald’s life.
I’ve just come off a loss, the biggest fight of my career. I’m fired up. I’m looking to come back with a vengeance. I’m also fired up because I was called out on national television. I gave [MacDonald] the worst beating of his life. I beat the snot out of him. He can come up with all the excuses that he wants. He’s got to fight me again.
Condit is coming off a tough unanimous decision loss to UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre.
Despite a dominant performance by the champ, the victory didn’t come without adversity.
Condit put forth a solid effort and nearly shocked the world after dropping St-Pierre with a head kick in the third round. It was a performance that showed the continued growth and maturity of Condit, who is only 28 years old.
A loss often teaches a fighter more than a victory. Condit believes he can grow from the experience and build an even better version of himself as he laid out in the aforementioned ESPN interview.
I proved that I can compete with the best in the world. I almost had the fight in the bag. With some adjustments and a few tweaks in my game, I’m going to be able to capitalize on those moments that I had in the last fight.
I think I did a pretty good job. I did the best that I could in preparing for Georges, knowing what I knew. Some things worked, and some things didn’t. Now we have to go back and refine. After a test like that, I have a lot of information to come back a much better fighter.
As for MacDonald, Condit has accepted the challenge, and the two welterweight stars are expected to meet in a rematch on March 16 at UFC 158.
Most fighters would walk around bitter and angry that they have to find a way to defeat the same dangerous opponent a second time, but as fans already know, Condit isn’t like most fighters.
He sees a rematch against MacDonald as a great opportunity to hop back into the title picture. MacDonald is currently looked at as the UFC’s golden child, and a win over him would all but guarantee a quicker path to another shot at UFC gold, as per ESPN:
Rory has a lot of hype behind him. People are talking about him. A win over him—another win over him—will put me right back in the [welterweight title] mix.
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