Carlos “The Natural Born Killer” Condit was pissed off at having to step aside and allow Nick Diaz to take his place in an eventual fight with UFC welterweight king Georges St-Pierre on Super Bowl weekend.
Personally, I don’t think anyone will blame Condit in the slightest for his ire at having been shelved to make way for Diaz.
Even though most know the details by now, here goes.
First there was the St-Pierre vs. Diaz clash scheduled for UFC 137 that was upended when the latter failed to turn up for several press junkets.
Dana White then relegated Diaz to the co-main event with B.J. Penn as his new opponent.
Condit was then installed as a worthy adversary for St-Pierre.
The winner of the Diaz vs. Penn bout was more or less guaranteed a shot at the winner of St-Pierre vs. Condit.
As fate would have it, a spanner was thrown in the works—St-Pierre (22-2 MMA, 16-2 UFC) suffered a knee injury during training, and Condit’s proposed bout with the former went up in smoke.
Condit (27-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) sat back and willingly bided his time for the opportunity to finally throw down with St-Pierre once he’d recuperated—that would’ve been on Super Bowl weekend.
UFC 137 came, and Diaz (26-7 MMA, 7-4 UFC), who many thought hadn’t a cat in hell’s chance against Penn, proved them wrong in their ensuing battle and viciously upended the Prodigy.
Everything was running smoothly after that, then hey presto! Diaz takes to the mic and issues a challenge to St-Pierre, who was in attendance that night.
St-Pierre, incensed and somewhat emotional at the time, accepted the challenge.
St-Pierre went even further, having a one-to-one with White.
This is what White said after UFC 137, “[St-Pierre] said, and I quote – you’re going to think I’m full of [expletive], but this is the truth – I quote, ‘He’s the most disrespectful human being I’ve ever met, and I’m going to put the worst beating you’ve ever seen on him in the UFC.'”
Regardless of St-Pierre venting his indignation, White had two options—accept or decline.
White chose the former. On White’s part, it was good business and a great financial move for the UFC hierarchy to boot.
For Condit, it was a stake through the heart.
What Condit said on hearing the news:
“My heart hurts.”
Condit has now been shafted twice, none of his own doing.
The catalyst to Condit being made the pasty is a result of three individuals, but most of the blame falls on White and St-Pierre.
On the one hand, you have the UFC boss, whose mantra I assume is “It’s not personal; it’s just business.”
This is understandable but in some regards, immensely flawed—White reneged on his promise to Condit.
On the other hand, there’s St-Pierre, who knew he had obligations to fight Condit.
He also knew how much the fight meant to him, but in the heat of the moment he let his anger, emotions and his ego get the better of him.
Condit has begrudgingly stepped aside.
Underneath, however, I would imagine that Condit is seething with rage at White’s shenanigans, but his most venomous fury ultimately lies at the feet of St-Pierre for denying him a shot at UFC glory.
Condit mightn’t have openly voiced his feelings, but believe me, deep down he is one pissed off fighter.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com