Nick Diaz is the kind of fighter who is always going to be surrounded by a tremendous amount of controversy. So it’s not surprising that his UFC 143 fight against Carlos Condit is already the talk of the town on various social networks and MMA message boards.
Many people—this writer included—will criticize Diaz for his antics after the fight, but there is one thing that no one can deny: Nick Diaz is an animal and remains a threat to win each and every fight that he could possibly be put in.
Diaz’s technique may be unorthodox, and he may take damage by literally dropping his hands and allowing his opponents to throw undefended shots at his face. But the guy just never stops coming. It’s that non-stop intensity that had Carlos Condit in some trouble early in the fight.
The stalking nature of Diaz’s movement backed Condit into the cage, like it has so many of his opponents in the past, and the Cesar Gracie jiu-jitsu black belt unloaded with some punches that caused a cut under Condit’s right eye.
At this point, it looked like the fight was going to play out exactly the same way that so many of Diaz’s recent fights have, with him catching his opponent early and continuing to pepper them with shots until he finally breaks them in the later rounds.
Credit Condit, though, as his gameplan of chopping away at Diaz’s legs did seem to cause him to slow down a bit, particularly in the third and fourth rounds, which Condit won on all three judges’ scorecards.
Using his quickness to escape danger countless times throughout the fight, Condit may have exposed a hole in Diaz’s technique. But Nick Diaz is not a fighter who will be content with what he currently does. He will learn from these mistakes, he will make adjustments and he will become a better fighter for the next poor sucker that has to step across the cage from him.
Tonight is Carlos Condit’s night, but Nick Diaz isn’t done yet. There is a possibility that this fight could warrant a rematch, and that could bode well for Diaz in his desire to become the undisputed UFC welterweight champion.
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