(I got you now you son of a…wait, where’d you go?)
A great man once said that if you tweet it, they will come. Yes it seems that after days of tireless bitching reasonable pleas, we will in fact be treated to a Carlos Condit/Nick Diaz rematch in the near future. DW broke the news yesterday via his Twitter (go figure):
Perhaps the strangest aspect of this story is that it was Condit, not Diaz, who approached White to request the rematch. After being subjected to heated public outcry in the wake of his unanimous decision win at UFC 143, Condit went against the advice of both his camp and his manager to ensure that the fight was booked. So you can say what you want about Condit’s recent performance, but you have to respect a guy who’s willing to possibly lose yet another chance at facing GSP, all for the sake of the fans. That’s three thus far, Shooter.
As of this write up, Diaz has yet to accept the fight, and according to Cesar Gracie, is unsure if he even wants it anymore. Here’s what Gracie had to say on the subject, via his Twitter:
@ufc@danawhite Condit vs Diaz or Gsp will not happen this year. Being interviewed by Ariel Helwanie in 5 minutes. He will break the story.
Less than an hour after tweeting this, Gracie appeared to change his mind, stating that “things are being considered.” Considered? THERE’S NO ROOM FOR THAT KIND OF TALK IN THE 209.
What will be interesting to see is how the UFC markets this rematch, granted Diaz accepts it. Yes, the decision was controversial to many (not to me), and yes, a polarizing figure like Diaz can hype a fight in his sleep, but their first meeting clearly failed to live up to the hype, and are we to believe that Condit will try all that different a strategy the second time around considering his success the first time?
We’ll have more on this story as it develops.
-J. Jones