The UFC returns to its home base of Las Vegas, Nevada this weekend to present UFC 143. The fight card will be headlined by a welterweight bout between former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit, with the winner taking home the interim UFC welterweight title.
Diaz was originally set to compete against UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre on this card, however a training injury left St-Pierre with a torn ACL and a date with a surgeon. The long recovery time and the fact that St-Pierre had not defended his title since defeating Jake Shields on April 30, 2011, resulted in the UFC deciding that an interim champ was needed. And with that, Carlos Condit was slotted in to face Diaz for that very title.
Diaz and Condit have been dominant forces in the welterweight division over the last few years. Diaz has run up an 11-fight winning streak since his last loss, which took place in November 2007. Condit has gone 12-1 in his last 13 fights, his only loss coming in his UFC debut against Martin Kampmann on April 1, 2009.
The evening’s co-main event will see Roy Nelson face off against Fabricio Werdum, the man who famously ended Fedor Emelianenko‘s 28-fight unbeaten streak.
Main Card:
Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit
Fabricio Werdum vs. Roy Nelson
Josh Koscheck vs. Mike Pierce
Renan Barao vs. Scott Jorgensen
Ed Herman vs. Clifford Starks
Preliminary Card:
Dustin Poirier vs. Max Holloway
Matt Riddle vs. Henry Martinez
Edwin Figueroa vs. Alex Caceres
Matt Brown vs. Chris Cope
Stephen Thompson vs. Dan Stittgen
Rafael Natal vs. Michael Kuiper
Stay tuned to Bleacher Report as we bring you the weigh-in results as the fighters step on the scale.
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