Carlos Condit’s Manager Says They’re Up for Rory MacDonald Rematch, Suggests Neutral Territory


(Photo via CombatLifestyle.)

Following Rory MacDonald‘s three-round assault of BJ Penn at UFC on FOX 5, the 23-year-old welterweight contender made it clear that he wanted a rematch with Carlos Condit, who previously TKO’d him with seven seconds remaining in a fight that MacDonald might have won on points. (You can revisit MacDonald’s darkest moment right here.) As Rory told Ariel Helwani on Fuel TV, “I was humiliated and embarrassed after that fight, and I think about that fight all the time, it haunts me, and I really need to get past that chapter in my life. My challenge is out there, it’s up to Carlos to accept my challenge…he’s coming off a loss, he’s gotta fight somebody, it might as well be me.”

Makes sense to us. But does it make sense to Condit? According to his manager Malki Kawa, hell yes. “Carlos Condit doesn’t back down from any man,” Kawa told MMAWeekly. “If the UFC asks us to fight Rory MacDonald, Carlos will take the fight.”


(Photo via CombatLifestyle.)

Following Rory MacDonald‘s three-round assault of BJ Penn at UFC on FOX 5, the 23-year-old welterweight contender made it clear that he wanted a rematch with Carlos Condit, who previously TKO’d him with seven seconds remaining in a fight that MacDonald might have won on points. (You can revisit MacDonald’s darkest moment right here.) As Rory told Ariel Helwani on Fuel TV, “I was humiliated and embarrassed after that fight, and I think about that fight all the time, it haunts me, and I really need to get past that chapter in my life. My challenge is out there, it’s up to Carlos to accept my challenge…he’s coming off a loss, he’s gotta fight somebody, it might as well be me.”

Makes sense to us. But does it make sense to Condit? According to his manager Malki Kawa, hell yes. “Carlos Condit doesn’t back down from any man,” Kawa told MMAWeekly. “If the UFC asks us to fight Rory MacDonald, Carlos will take the fight.”

There is one point of contention, however — the venue where the fight would take place. Though their first bout took place at UFC 115 in Vancouver, MacDonald mentioned during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan on Saturday that he’d like the rematch to take place in his home-base of Montreal. As you can imagine, that’s not an ideal scenario for the Condit camp; Kawa counter-proposed that the rematch happen in Las Vegas — neutral territory, though much closer to Condit’s home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

So how would a Condit vs. MacDonald rematch go down in 2013? MacDonald clearly has the firepower to give Condit a bad night — and maybe he’s gained the poise and maturity since their first meeting to avoid another ill-timed implosion.