Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz is worth the pay-per-view price alone.
MMA fans are in for a treat Saturday night when the most exciting fighter in the UFC, Diaz, battles Condit for the interim title at UFC 143.
Rarely do I advise paying the PPV price for the main event alone, but this is one that is sure to be a Fight of the Year Candidate.
Diaz is currently on an 11-fight winning streak, while Condit is coming off of the two best knockout victories of his career. The state of the welterweight division is on the line and there has been a lot of drama in the division lately.
It all started back in 2011 when Diaz was scheduled to fight Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight championship. However, after missing multiple press conferences, UFC president Dana White decided to nix the fight and make it GSP against Condit for the title.
After that fight was made, Diaz was pitted against Condit’s opponent, B.J. Penn. Shortly after that, GSP pulled out of the fight with an injury. This put Diaz on the main event card against Penn and that’s when chaos ensued.
Diaz and Penn went to war with one another and after winning a unanimous decision, Diaz called out GSP. He did it in such a fashion that GSP, who normally doesn’t do any trash-talking, went to White and told him to make the fight happen. For the first time in his career, it looked like Diaz got underneath the champion’s skin and thus the fight was set to happen February 4.
Then GSP was required to have knee surgery, which brought Condit back into the mix to crown a new interim welterweight champion. The winner of course is set to fight GSP later this year.
Now that the history between these three fighters is out of the way, it’s time to look forward to this more than fascinating main event Saturday night.
Diaz is one of those fighters that is incapable of having a boring fight because of his relentless pace and unparalleled cardio. He’s one of the few men who swam from Alcatraz and he competes in triathlons regularly when he’s not training for a fight.
With his slick boxing and crippling Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Diaz is considered to be one of the best fighters on the planet, but he’s going to be facing an assassin Saturday night.
While Diaz will have the edge as far as the boxing goes, Condit will have the edge when it comes to the kicks and knees. Condit is a fantastic Muay Thai fighter that proved in his bout against Dan Hardy that he has one-punch knockout power.
The real question in this fight is can Condit get the separation he needs to use those knees and kicks on Diaz? Diaz’s little brother Nate proved in his last fight against Donald Cerrone at UFC 141 that a relentless boxing style can indeed nullify a Muay Thai technician.
Both fighters are skilled, both are tough and both are sure to give the fans one heck of a main event. You should never buy a PPV because of the main event alone, but Diaz vs. Condit might be an exception.
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