Looks like it wasn’t UFC interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit‘s decision to not defend his belt in the past nine months.
Malki Kawa, Condit‘s manager, told MMA Weekly that he advised his client against taking fights with contenders Martin Kampmann and Johny Hendricks in favor of waiting for a bout with 170-pound title holder, Georges St-Pierre:
“If you really want to know the truth, [Condit] called me a few times after the [Nick] Diaz fight and asked me to set up a rematch [with Kampmann]. He asked me, ya know, when Johny Hendricks started talking, he wanted to fight him. When Kampmann stepped on the set and said he was the number one contender, Carlos wanted to fight him. So Carlos actually wanted to take some other fights. I was pretty instrumental in telling him to chill and take it easy. This is a big fight man … there’s no bigger fight at that weight class than Georges St-Pierre. So to me, it just didn’t make financial sense, or any type of business sense .. or any type of fight sense to take any other fight in the interim.”
Kawa also stated that had Nick Diaz not been suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for testing positive for marijuana metabolites after UFC 143, he would’ve been open to a Condit-Diaz rematch.
Condit defeated Diaz at the February card via controversial unanimous decision to win the interim belt.
“The Natural Born Killer’s” sit back and wait approach seems to have paid off, as he meets GSP at UFC 154 on Saturday to crown an undisputed welterweight champion.
Meanwhile, Kampmann and Hendricks meet at the co-main event in a bout that could determine who gets the next title shot at 170-pounds.
Kampmann defeated Condit via split decision in the former WEC champion’s UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 18 in April 2009, so it makes sense that “The Hitman” would’ve liked a crack at the interim title.
Did Kawa make the right call in having Condit wait for St-Pierre?
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