After watching last night’s title fight between Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit twice over, it’s rather difficult to identify precisely what went wrong for Carlos Condit.
Of course, we can point to defensive wrestling as the Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts representative’s ultimate kryptonite, but fans across the globe already knew that if there was any single area of the sport in which Condit was inferior to GSP, it was the wrestling department. It wasn’t a shock.
Sure, we’d collectively hoped that Condit had invested enough time working on his wrestling to thwart some of the champ’s offense, but we most probably understood that you can’t become a top-notch wrestler inside of one training camp. It simply isn’t possible.
Again, there was no mystery to be found in regards to the wrestling showcased last night.
Considering the fact that this fight really came down to who could impose his will on the mat, it’s tough to identify any other specific area in which Condit failed to excel. He fought an offensive-minded fight, sans the first round, and he kept an active enough guard to prevent GSP from uncorking the kind of ground and pound that renders a fighter unconscious.
In fact, if we’re really going to reach beyond the wrestling deficit (which is nearly all there is to discuss, though that wouldn’t make for much of an article), we’re going to really, really reach.
Outside of his failure to stop the takedowns, Condit looked damn impressive last night. After settling in to a comfort zone in the first frame, Condit began hurling combinations at GSP. “The Natural Born Killer” kept an offensive approach that was admirable, and his ability to keep his wits after being tagged by numerous hard shots proved pretty amazing.
Most guys take a mental vacation when GSP starts beating on them. Carlos Condit isn’t most guys.
If I’ve got to eye any specific moment in which Carlos let this fight go, it has to be those first moments that followed the shocking head kick that left GSP laid out on the canvas.
This was Carlos Condit’s one serious shot at taking the title. He had the champion rocked and woozy, and he did leap in and attempt to finish. However, he was a little bit anxious, didn’t pick his shots and stuck himself directly in GSP’s comfort zone, in tightly confined wrestling quarters.
Condit’s chances of closing the show last night could have been greatly improved had he taken a moment to measure the distance and aim. Sometimes those wild flurries work wonders, and sometimes a few too many shots miss their target to produce the desired finished.
Such was the case for Condit last night.
That said, it’s easy to understand the overzealousness Carlos displayed. Not many men manage to actually hurt GSP during a fight. Condit was probably about as stunned by the opening as the fans were.
When you can put the champ on his tail, you’d better play your cards right and make sure every punch counts.
Unfortunately, Carlos Condit wasn’t able to make that happen last night. He tried, and valiantly at that.
If Condit can continue to work on his wrestling, and if he can ensure he maintains complete focus in the future, he’ll be right back in the mix at 170 soon. The truth is, wrestling and anxiousness were are the only things that went wrong for the former interim champ last night.
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