The UFC interim welterweight championship is up for grabs at UFC 143, and welterweight standouts Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit will take one step closer to becoming the undisputed champion when they meet inside the Octagon this Saturday.
“It feels good to be able to go 100 percent,” Diaz told MMAheavy.com’s Megan Olivi in regards to participating in triathlons to prepare for his fights. “If I was to do the same one every day, it just doesn’t work out as well. If I was going to just train MMA every day, by the third day, it’s going to be really hard on my body.”
“But if I switch it out and I do some road work in between then I can go really hard out on the road, and then also, I will be able to go hard in the gym the next day,” Diaz said.
Diaz made his return to the UFC in October to defeat BJ Penn by unanimous decision. His last fight to take place in the UFC before that came at UFC 65 when he was only 22.
Since then, he has defeated some of the top welterweight fighters in the world and won the Strikeforce welterweight championship in 2010. Three title defenses followed before he rejoined the premiere MMA organization.
“I train in zones,” he continued. “I’m not so much of an explosive, strength athlete, and I know how other people’s endurance works. I know a lot about people and how they work, and what type of fighter or person, what makes them go.”
Condit will enter the fight on a four-fight win streak with wins over Dong Hyun Kim, Dan Hardy, Jake Ellenberger and Rory MacDonald.
“He(Condit) is the best there is, and that’s why I’m here,” Diaz said. “To compete against the best.”
The winner is likely to take on UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre if he is able to fight before the end of the year.
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