Carlos Condit is a brilliant striker, but fans wouldn’t know it the way he fought Nick Diaz at UFC 143. Anyone who was watching Condit for the first time might be tricked into thinking that the new interim welterweight champion was best at leg kicks and fighting on the outside.
Most of them would have been confused to find out that Condit’s nickname is the Natural Born Killer.
Saturday night, fans didn’t see the man who won two fight of the night or the knockout of the night awards, but rather someone who was intent on winning by points.
That isn’t to say that Condit’s strategy wasn’t brilliant. He was able to get Diaz to come forward and attack him all night long while he countered his opponent. It was a dicey move because some MMA judges score on aggression, disregarding the fact that there were plenty of fans who thought Diaz won.
Condit did what he needed to and he was able to walk away with the victory and a guaranteed huge fight against Georges St-Pierre.
He just didn’t show even half his talent to new fans or old. It shocked Nick Diaz and the folks who paid for the pay-per-view when he decided to circle the outside.
In the WEC, Condit had finished all four of the opponents he had placed in front of him.
When he transitioned to the UFC, he had some trouble splitting two close decisions with Martin Kampmann and Jake Ellenberger.
After those two bumps in the road, he finished his next three opponents, even coming back from what was a certain defeat against Rory McDonald to knock him out.
In his next bout, he was able to knockout Dan Hardy in a savage manner.
Condit was even able to take out Dong Hyun Kim in one round, stopping the judoka from getting him to the ground and suffocating him.
In one fight, Condit was able to destroy all of the goodwill he had among fans for one reason.
They knew that he could fight better then he did.
Could he have fought a better fight in a safer manner? No, he used a game plan that gave him the best chance of success and won.
He can’t be faulted for it, as it gave him an opportunity to face GSP and a payday that will be unrivaled. This is how he makes a living and he did what he needed to for his family.
Condit just needs to remember that the UFC is also entertainment and that for fans to buy pay-per-views, they have to feel that it is worth doing so.
That means he needs to be exciting again like Nick Diaz tried to be.
Otherwise, he will turn into the next Georges St-Pierre: someone who wins matches, but angers fans.
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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