After being choked out by submission wizard Demian Maia in the main event of Saturday’s UFC On FOX 21 event in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, former UFC title contender Carlos Condit spoke about the possibility of no longer being a top-level figh…
After being choked out by submission wizard Demian Maia in the main event of Saturday’s UFC On FOX 21 event in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, former UFC title contender Carlos Condit spoke about the possibility of no longer being a top-level fighter in the UFC.
At the official post-fight press conference held after the event, “The Natural Born Killer” spoke about his performance and while doing so, was pretty hard on himself. At the same time, there are those who feel that Condit wasn’t being overly hard on himself as much as he was simply speaking the truth as he saw it.
“I don’t know if I have any business fighting at this level anymore,” Condit said at the UFC on FOX 21 post-fight presser. “I’ve been at this for a really long time and the pressure of kind of being one of the top guys for almost a decade, it’s been awesome. I’ve loved being involved in this sport for the time that I have, and I’ve gotten to do what I love for a living for a long period of time.”
On the subject of his future, Condit concluded by saying he doesn’t know if he “belongs here anymore.”
“But, I don’t know, man,” Condit said. “I don’t know if I belong here anymore. We’ll see.”
For video highlights of the Condit-Maia main event from UFC On FOX 21 this past weekend, click here. For complete UFC On FOX 21 results, click here.
H/T to MMAFighting.com for transcribing the above Carlos Condit quotes from the UFC On FOX 21 post-fight press conference.
One week after the record-breaking UFC 202 pay-per-view where Conor McGregor outlasted Nate Diaz in a back-and-forth war, Demian Maia made a thunderous statement with a sub-two-minute submission win over Carlos Condit (watch full highlights here) in the main event of last night’s (Sat., August 27, 2016) UFC on FOX 21 from Vancouver, although it may
One week after the record-breaking UFC 202 pay-per-view where Conor McGregor outlasted Nate Diaz in a back-and-forth war, Demian Maia made a thunderous statement with a sub-two-minute submission win over Carlos Condit (watch full highlights here) in the main event of last night’s (Sat., August 27, 2016) UFC on FOX 21 from Vancouver, although it may not have drummed up much attention.
Maia’s style, as perhaps the finest Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner in MMA today, has never been the most fan-friendly. He’s often been known to smother opponents in the early-going of bouts only to gas out later while still maintaining an irreversible top control due to the massive gap in skill he possesses over even most elite MMA fighters on the ground.
But that shouldn’t matter at all, because Maia has won six straight fights in arguably the most competitive and deep division in the UFC. Since returning to his roots of jiu-jitsu following his failed title bid at middleweight where he inexplicably got away from his most natural skillset in an attempt to out-strike his opponents, Maia has never looked more at home. That has him on the cusp of another title shot, this time at 170 pounds versus new champion Tyron Woodley, yet that’s been promised to No. 2 contender Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.
Speaking up at the FOX Sports 1 post-fight show following his statement victory over Condit, Maia said he could see why the UFC may pass Thompson over for him due to his age. If that ends up not the case, then Maia just hopes they sign Woodley vs. “Wonderboy” soon:
“I think so. I respect very much Thompson, he’s a great guy. Of course, I’m much older than him so if they could give it to me first, that would be great.
“If not, I hope they give (it) to him really fast and they decide and I wait to see who wins the fight.”
Maia knows that realistically, however, the fight is most likely going to go to Thompson after UFC President Dana White recently made it clear that Woodley wouldn’t get the “money fights” he wanted with Georges St-Pierre or Nick Diaz that he called out for when he snubbed Thompson mere minutes after winning the belt with a title-clinching first round knockout over Robbie Lawler in the main event of July 30’s UFC 201.
With that being the direction the promotion will probably take, Maia said he’s willing to wait for the winner of Woodley vs. Thompson, because he feels like in Condit, he just beat the man who should have been champion based on his controversial split decision loss to Lawler at January 2’s UFC 195:
“I’ll wait. I can stay active in training and doing my teaching, doing what I do everyday. The guy I fought today is not just a former champion, but he is also a guy that many people including me and I was watching Octagon-side his fight against (Robbie) Lawler and many people including me thought he won and he was supposed to be the champ.
“So what else should I do? I have six wins in a row and that’s it.”
Demian Maia made sure to state his case Saturday night in the main event of UFC on FOX 21, scoring a first round submission over Carlos Condit.
With the win, Maia improved to 6-0 in his last six fights, including wins over Condit, Matt Brown and Nei…
Demian Maia made sure to state his case Saturday night in the main event of UFC on FOX 21, scoring a first round submission over Carlos Condit.
With the win, Maia improved to 6-0 in his last six fights, including wins over Condit, Matt Brown and Neil Magny.
In the co-main event, former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis defeated Charles Oliveira with a third round guillotine choke, snapping a three-fight losing skid for “Showtime.” It marked his third straight win over a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, having also previously bested Benson Henderson and Gilbert Melendez.
Paige VanZant made her return to action with a second round knockout of Bec Rawlings, while Jim Miller pushed his career mark vs. Joe Lauzon to 2-0 with a split decision win.
Demian Maia def. Carlos Condit via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:52 of Round 1
Anthony Pettis def. Charles Oliveira via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:49 of Round 3
Paige VanZant def. Bec Rawlings via KO (head-kick) at :17 of Round 2
Jim Miller def. Joe Lauzon via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Sam Alvey def. Kevin Casey via TKO (strikes) at 4:56 of Round 2
Former UFC interim champion and WEC welterweight king Carlos Condit returned to action last night. Unfortunately for fans of the blood soaked warrior, August 27 may mark the last time Condit graces the UFC octagon. Following the narrow loss to Robbie Lawler at UFC 195, ‘The Natural Born Killer’ toyed with the idea of retirement.
Former UFC interim champion and WEC welterweight king Carlos Condit returned to action last night. Unfortunately for fans of the blood soaked warrior, August 27 may mark the last time Condit graces the UFC octagon. Following the narrow loss to Robbie Lawler at UFC 195, ‘The Natural Born Killer’ toyed with the idea of retirement. Eight months on ‘NBK’ returned to possibly the most difficult fight available.
Demian Maia turned the UFC on FOX 21 main event in to a grappling clinic. ‘The Natural Born Killer’ wasn’t able to get warm as the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ace got the first round submission. The fight was nothing like the thrilling wars we’ve become accustomed to with Condit. After the main event done in Vancouver, questions about Condit’s future were rife once again.
Will Carlos Condit Retire?
If Carlos Condit does indeed decide to retire, it will be a sad day for MMA. Condit had stated he wanted UFC gold before calling it a day, but talk of moving in to the real estate business and settling down with his family underlies another possibly more attractive option. Talking during the post-fight presser North of the border, ‘The Natural Born Killer’ said he is still undecided on where to go next. As quoted by MMAJunkie.com.
“I don’t know if I have any business fighting at this level anymore. I’ve been at this for a really long time. The pressure of kind of being one of the top guys for almost a decade, it’s been awesome to be involved in this sport as long as I have. I got to do what I love for a living for a very long time. I don’t know, man. I don’t know if I belong here anymore. We’ll see.”
Swan Song? Hopefully Not
Along with his hoards of fans, Carlos Condit is hoping this wasn’t his last fight. Every combatant would love to go out with a win, but very few have been party to so many gruelling wars as ‘NBK.’ The Greg Jackson product has seen gritty battles with Robbie Lawler, Nick Diaz Georges St-Pierre and many more. Few would blame him if it was time to call it a career. In closing, Condit says it ultimately depends on his friends and family, and a decision will be made soon.
“Honestly, I’ve had a tough career with a lot of fights and I’ve taken a lot of punishment,” Condit said. “I don’t know if I can continue to take shots, honestly. I’ll probably talk to the people around me, talk to my wife and kind of make the decision after we’ve had some discussion and a little bit of assessing where I’m going and what’s on the horizon.”
The UFC on Fox 21 main event between Carlos Condit and Demian Maia was doomed to end in disappointment, one way or the other.
Unfortunately for Condit, he has to carry that disappointment after Maia defeated him Saturday night in Vancouver, British Col…
The UFC on Fox 21 main event between Carlos Condit and Demian Maia was doomed to end in disappointment, one way or the other.
Unfortunately for Condit, he has to carry that disappointment after Maia defeated him Saturday night in Vancouver, British Columbia, via a first-round submission.
Condit is one of the biggest fan favorites in MMA. Dating all the way back to his days as the WEC welterweight champion, he has been a staple of the division’s Top 10 and delivered exciting performances in every outing.
Unfortunately, his tough split-decision loss to Robbie Lawler at UFC 195 seemed to suck the enthusiasm out of him and left him hinting at retirement. A loss to Maia would likely end his days as a title contender and lead to the end of his career.
Maia, on the other hand, is one of those fighters who has always quietly competed at an elite level but has never gotten respect for it. His grappling is chess in a sport where most fighters are playing checkers and most fans are still trying to figure out tic-tac-toe.
Because of that, he has received no real help from the promotion and has largely been relegated to Brazilian Fight Night events. Entering UFC on Fox 21, however, he owned one of the longest active winning streaks in the division (five fights) and seemed poised to make his way back into contention for the first time since 2010.
Entering the event, it was clear that one man would see his days as a contender end. That was Condit, and they ended in the most emphatic way.
Early in the first round, Maia shot for a single-leg takedown, turned the corner and landed in a spread half-guard. He threw some punches and elbows and, as Condit tried to slither away, exploded into a back mount. After some brief hand fighting, Maia secured the rear-naked choke.
And that was the entire bout. Just under two minutes of action.
MMA journalist Chamatkar Sandhu showed Maia’s reaction to the win:
In a vacuum, it was an astounding performance by Maia. Condit is one of the most talented, most experienced fighters at 170 pounds and is coached by Greg Jackson, one of the greatest minds in the sport. Maia, however, is just so good that he managed to effortlessly defeat his opponent in the most predictable way.
This wasn’t in a vacuum, though. It was a fight that came at a time when Condit was on the brink of hanging them up. And he may have gotten that last nudge into doing so.
The future isn’t written in stone for either man, of course. Condit wouldn’t be the first fighter to ponder retirement, take some time off and return to the sport because of his sheer love of competition (and/or out of pure financial necessity). Maia, meanwhile, said he is willing to wait for a title shot that may or may not ever come, per MMA writer Josh Gross:
Still, this is a bittersweet moment. Maia, finally, seems poised to get the praise and recognition he deserves. It’s just a shame it had to come at Condit’s expense.
Tonight’s (Sat., August 27, 2016) UFC on FOX 21 is in the books from Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In the featured bout, Demian Maia submitted three-time title contender Carlos Condit in an enticing clash of styles for what most feel should be the next title shot in the talent-rich welterweight division. The rest
Tonight’s (Sat., August 27, 2016) UFC on FOX 21 is in the books from Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
In the featured bout, Demian Maia submitted three-time title contender Carlos Condit in an enticing clash of styles for what most feel should be the next title shot in the talent-rich welterweight division.
The rest of the main card featured some hard-hitting bouts as well, with former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis righting the ship in a big way by submitting dangerous Charles Oliveira in his featherweight debut and popular women’s strawweight contender Paige VanZant’s return to the Octagon with a flashy switch kick KO against Bec Rawlings.
Join LowKickMMA for the post-fight press conference starting shortly after the main card right here:
The UFC on Fox 21 main event between