Remember when Carlos Condit wasn’t a target?Before he beat up Nick Diaz and sat on the UFC welterweight title, Condit delighted fans and pundits alike with his aggressive style, flashy knockouts and never-say-die brawling style. Fast forward a handful …
Remember when Carlos Condit wasn’t a target?
Before he beat up Nick Diaz and sat on the UFC welterweight title, Condit delighted fans and pundits alike with his aggressive style, flashy knockouts and never-say-die brawling style. Fast forward a handful of months later, and his name is as good as mud with many more fans.
But even with all the gripes, Condit doesn’t deserve the backlash.
He waited for a big money fight with the sport’s biggest pay-per-view draw. Is it fair to fault Condit—a father and 10-year fight veteran—in looking out for his own interests?
No. It’s unfair.
As quickly as we MMA fans praise the fighters we love, we’re just as quick to crucify other fighters for perceived selfishness, egotism, or any other qualities we think we see.
But the matter of fact is simply this—they don’t deserve the hate.
Condit‘s on everyone’s radar simply because he’s competing this Saturday at UFC 154. But here’s nine other past-and-present UFC fighters who should be cut some slack.
(Demian Maia’s neck-crank of Rick Story — it just never gets old, does it? / GIF via Fightlinker)
With Jon Fitch coming off a redemptive Fight of the Night victory over Erick Silva at UFC 153 — his first win in over two years — the Indiana-bred wrestler is suddenly a factor again in the welterweight division. And so, the UFC will be giving him another opportunity to cement his contender status at UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar (February 2nd; Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas), where he’ll face off against Brazilian grappling specialist Demian Maia. The promotion confirmed the booking last night.
After hitting a wall at middleweight, Maia dropped to 170 earlier this year, debuting with a fluke-ish TKO-via-muscle-spasm victory over Dong Hyun Kim. But against Rick Story at UFC 153, we finally saw flashes of the Old Maia, as he picked up his first submission victory since his triangle-choke of Chael Sonnen in February 2009. And man, was it nasty.
We all know that this is going to be a grapple-fest, and odds are that it’ll go the distance. But considering that Fitch has turned over a new leaf in his approach to fighting — and that Maia has located his jiu-jitsu again — it could be an entertaining scrap. Who y’all got?
(Demian Maia’s neck-crank of Rick Story — it just never gets old, does it? / GIF via Fightlinker)
With Jon Fitch coming off a redemptive Fight of the Night victory over Erick Silva at UFC 153 — his first win in over two years — the Indiana-bred wrestler is suddenly a factor again in the welterweight division. And so, the UFC will be giving him another opportunity to cement his contender status at UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar (February 2nd; Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas), where he’ll face off against Brazilian grappling specialist Demian Maia. The promotion confirmed the booking last night.
After hitting a wall at middleweight, Maia dropped to 170 earlier this year, debuting with a fluke-ish TKO-via-muscle-spasm victory over Dong Hyun Kim. But against Rick Story at UFC 153, we finally saw flashes of the Old Maia, as he picked up his first submission victory since his triangle-choke of Chael Sonnen in February 2009. And man, was it nasty.
We all know that this is going to be a grapple-fest, and odds are that it’ll go the distance. But considering that Fitch has turned over a new leaf in his approach to fighting — and that Maia has located his jiu-jitsu again — it could be an entertaining scrap. Who y’all got?
This weekend’s UFC 154 event isn’t the only card with exceptional welterweight talent duking it out. As reported by MMAJunkie.com, an intriguing contest between Jon Fitch and Demian Maia has been added to Superbowl weekend’s UFC 156 event.Maia had prev…
This weekend’s UFC 154 event isn’t the only card with exceptional welterweight talent duking it out. As reported by MMAJunkie.com, an intriguing contest between Jon Fitch and Demian Maia has been added to Superbowl weekend’s UFC 156 event.
Maia had previously mentioned Fitch as an opponent that he would like to square off with in an interview with Tatame magazine:
Dude, I think Nick Diaz and Jon Fitch that opponents would surely have much name this division and I would climb fast. The others, I think they are marked with struggles, but these two guys are certainly very tough and they would have proved much I climb in the division.
I think the two have much jiu-jitsu. Both with Nick as with Fitch. Both are good with that, just that I feel more focused on the Fitch’s wrestling than with his jiu-jitsu, and Nick is a guy more with boxing than jiu-jitsu.
The fight has been discussed by many in the MMA community even before it became a reality. Bleacher Report’s own Nathan McCarterbroke down a potential fight between the esteemed grapplers in October.
A former challenger for the middleweight championship, Maia has notched a perfect 2-0 record since dropping down to 170 pounds. His victories came over established opponents Dong Hyun Kim and Rick Story, and both wins came in quick and violent fashion.
Fitch has also competed for a championship during his UFC career, although he has been a welterweight for every bout with the company sans his promotional debut. He recently rebounded from a 12-second knockout at the hands of Johny Hendricks by coming out victorious in a stellar fight against Erick Silva at UFC 153.
The AKA veteran is known for a wrestling-centric attack that has stifled any fighter unfortunate enough to be beneath him. With Maia being one of the most elite jiu-jitsu practitioners on the planet, it will be interesting to see what sort of game plan each man brings to the table.
Both men are members of the Top 10, and the victor of this contest should only be another fight or two away from a bout with title implications.
UFC 153 was a big night for welterweights.Jon Fitch returned to the Octagon for the first time since December 2011 and picked up an important victory. He earned Fight of the Night honors alongside Erick Silva.In the opening bout of the pay-per-view, De…
UFC 153 was a big night for welterweights.
Jon Fitch returned to the Octagon for the first time since December 2011 and picked up an important victory. He earned Fight of the Night honors alongside Erick Silva.
In the opening bout of the pay-per-view, Demian Maia moved to 2-0 in the division with a complete destruction of Rick Story.
Both men proved that they are still at the top of their game and are ready to move into title contention. A good way to find out who should get that opportunity would be to pit the UFC 153 winners against one another.
Demian Maia wants Nick Diaz and Jon Fitch next.Following a particularly brutal submission win over Rick Story at UFC 153, Maia is looking to further raise his stock at welterweight by knocking off more Top 10 fighters in the division.During an intervie…
Following a particularly brutal submission win over Rick Story at UFC 153, Maia is looking to further raise his stock at welterweight by knocking off more Top 10 fighters in the division.
During an interview with TATAME Magazine (via MiddleEasy), Maia made it very clear which two opponents would most likely skyrocket him to a title fight. Although he acknowledges that both Diaz and Fitch represent unique struggles, Maia makes the case that he’s ready (via Google Translate):
Dude, I think Nick Diaz and Jon Fitch that opponents would surely have much name this division and I would climb fast. The others, I think they are marked with struggles, but these two guys are certainly very tough and they would have proved much I climb in the division.
I think the two have much jiu-jitsu. Both with Nick as with Fitch. Both are good with that, just that I feel more focused on the Fitch’s wrestling than with his jiu-jitsu, and Nick is a guy more with boxing than jiu-jitsu.
Maia has notched a 2-0 record in the UFC since moving down to welterweight, following a 9-4 run at middleweight that saw him defeat the likes of ChaelSonnen, Dan Miller, and Sengoku middleweight champion Jorge Santiago.
Maia finished off Rick Story with a hard neck crank at UFC 153, drawing blood from Story before getting a first round stoppage. Prior to that, Maia defeated Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 148 when the Korean fighter injured his ribs defending a trip takedown.
UFC 153 has come and gone. The event held at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil delivered an action-packed night of fights.Anderson Silva continued to showcase his incredible skills with a first round humiliation of Stephan Bonnar in th…
UFC 153 has come and gone. The event held at the HSBC Arena in Rio deJaneiro, Brazil delivered an action-packed night of fights.
Anderson Silva continued to showcase his incredible skills with a first round humiliation of Stephan Bonnar in the main event.
In the co-main event of the evening Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira returned from injury to get a submission win over Dave Herman.
Twelve fights in total went down in Rio. This is how the 24 fighters stacked up to one another at UFC 153.
This weekend’s UFC 154 event isn’t the only card with exceptional welterweight talent duking it out.