What a difference a decision makes.
Fans should be thanking the judges who scored the fight for Carlos Condit at UFC 143. They saved the welterweight division from being thrown into confusion and people from feeling cheated.
It was found out recently that Nick Diaz tested positive for marijuana after the fight. No matter what a fan’s stance may be on the drug, it was a banned substance and Diaz used it before a main-event match for the interim title.
It isn’t the first time Diaz has been busted for using pot. He actually failed a test after fighting Takanori Gomi in Pride and had it ruled a no contest years before.
Just like his fight with Condit, the fight with Gomi was in Nevada. This time, Diaz had won by submission, but it was overturned thanks to his positive test.
It looks like Diaz hasn’t learned much since then.
While the drug in no way helps Diaz win fights, it does seem a little ridiculous that he continues to use when he knows that it could wash away any wins he has over opponents. It may not be fair, but Diaz chose a certain profession, and he has to deal with the effects of it.
He chose not to do that for his fight and competed anyway.
But what if he had won?
In the short-term, fans would have been happier. It would have meant a more exciting fight, and journalists and fight lovers alike would have started anticipating the showdown between Georges St-Pierre and Diaz.
Until the drug test came out.
No matter how many negative reactions it would have made, the fight would have been changed to a no contest and the interim title would be vacant, leaving St-Pierre without an opponent.
Worse is the feeling that it would have left fans with.
There is something hollow about a no contest. It leave fans without the outrage that a debatable loss does or even an outright robbery gives them.
Fans love to argue. It is part of the enjoyment of the sport. As much as there is a passionate love when things turn out their way, it turns quickly into rage when things don’t. No contests just give them neither emotion.
There is a vacuum, an emptiness that comes from having an entire contest between two fighters nullified. It doesn’t affect their careers or their standings in the history of the sport or even in the current standing of their division. The only thing it helps is fighters’ pocket books.
So, fans are lucky that Condit won. It doesn’t mean that it will change their opinion of the verdict or that they enjoy it, but it does give them one thing that a Diaz win wouldn’t have.
Closure.
Fans know who got the victory. There is a win and a loss and an argument over who should have won, but it is there and outrage or joy can be felt. It isn’t perfect, but it is MMA.
And it is a little better off thanks to Diaz losing.
Matthew Hemphill writes for the MMA and professional wrestling portion of Bleacher Report. He also hosts a blog elbaexiled.blogspot.com that focuses on books, music, comic books, video games, film and generally anything that could be related to the realms of nerdom.
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