Author: Jorge Luis Castillo

Rematch with Nick Diaz Is the Right Move for Carlos Condit

The main even of UFC 143 has split the MMA community right down the middle.The five-round interim title fight between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit on Saturday has become a popular topic of debate among fans, fighters and reporters alike. Many feel …

The main even of UFC 143 has split the MMA community right down the middle.

The five-round interim title fight between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit on Saturday has become a popular topic of debate among fans, fighters and reporters alike. Many feel Condit won with his flawlessly executed game plan, while others feel Diaz should’ve gotten the decision because Diaz was the more aggressive fighter, and because of Condit‘s elusiveness and unwillingness to engage in a brawl. However, it is very clear that this was a close fight and nobody was really sure who would get the decision before the scorecards were read.

I have been passionately defending Carlos Condit as the legitimate interim welterweight champion; however, I am not stubborn enough to pretend it was a dominant or convincing win. It was an extremely close fight, but the right man got his hand raised.

Having said that, giving Nick Diaz a rematch is probably the best course of action for Carlos Condit at this point, and these are some of the reasons to do it:

 

Silence the critics

If Condit doesn’t fight Diaz again, the crowd that feels that Diaz won will probably always feel that way, no matter how much we try to convince them otherwise. Condit wouldn’t be recognized as the legitimate winner by many people unless he convincingly defeats Diaz again. A win in a rematch would prove Condit in fact is the superior fighter and even the most hardcore Diaz fans will have a hard time making the argument that “Diaz should’ve won” if Condit wins twice in a row.

 

Establish Carlos Condit as a true threat to Georges St-Pierre

After UFC 143, not many people were clamoring to see GSP vs Condit, and even less were saying Condit would have a good chance of beating GSP. Two straight victories over Nick Diaz would make Condit seem like a real threat to GSP.

 

Staying active

It seems like Carlos Condit wants to wait to fight GSP, and that’s OK, he has earned it. However, we are still not sure when GSP will fight again, it could be by November at the earliest, but maybe it could be until 2013. Condit needs to stay active, he is in the prime of his career and wasting a year to wait around is never a good idea. Just ask Rashad Evans.

 

Get a better payday

Condit has the leverage to ask for a handsome payday if he were to rematch Diaz. 

 

If Condit loses, there will be a trilogy

If Condit loses, there is almost a guarantee that he will face Nick Diaz again sometime in the future for the rubber match. This would no doubt be a huge fight, and a great payday for both men.

 

Give chance to build new contenders

Besides Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz, there are no clear contenders for the belt yet. Guys like Jake Ellenberger and Johnny Hendricks are coming off huge wins, but a couple of more fights would help them become more established future contenders. 

These are some good reasons why this fight is a good move for Carlos Condit. I think when all is said and done Carlos Condit has more to gain if he fights Nick Diaz again.

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Sidelined: Will Georges St-Pierre Return with a Vengeance?

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:”GSP is boring.””GSP doesn’t have the killer instinct anymore.””GSP has become a lay-and-pray fighter.””GSP has been EXPOSED!”Do any of those statements sound familiar? Georges St-Pierre has been one of the …

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:

“GSP is boring.”

“GSP doesn’t have the killer instinct anymore.”

“GSP has become a lay-and-pray fighter.”

“GSP has been EXPOSED!”

Do any of those statements sound familiar? 

Georges St-Pierre has been one of the most dominant fighters the MMA history. He will no doubt be remembered as an all-time great, and will surely become a UFC Hall of Famer.

So why have fans become so critical of GSP lately? 

Well, the truth is, it’s harder to make arguments against those criticisms than it is to defend him.

Fighters that GSP couldn’t finish, such as Jon Fitch, Jake Shields and Dan Hardy, have all been finished after their fight with GSP (hence the “GSP has been EXPOSED!” meme). And it certainly doesn’t help that he isn’t set to come back to the octagon until summer due to knee surgery. 

However, these setbacks might not really be a bad thing after all. When he comes back, Georges St-Pierre will have something to prove.

He will have to prove that he is still the king of the welterweights and can put on a show while defending his crown. I believe that the GSP that we will see is the motivated fighter we saw in the Serra, Hughes and Penn rematches.

Georges’ comeback opponent will be the winner of Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz, and the fact that these two guys have a “finish or be finished” mentality supports my theory. Whoever wins, these are fighters who refuse to leave it to the judges, and GSP knows that.

GSP will prepare for that. And GSP will come with the same mentality on that fight and make a huge statement.

This will be a GSP with something to prove, and if Nick Diaz wins, he will be fighting a guy that he genuinely dislikes (maybe even hates, as Dana White said). This will be a GSP with a chip on his shoulder. 

The Georges St-Pierre with a chip on his shoulder is the best one we’ve seen.

I believe in GSP. And if the healing goes well with his knee as reports have stated, I believe Georges St-Pierre will return with a vengeance and put on some exciting fights, and show why he has dominated his weight class as long as he has.

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