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UFC Fight Night 67: Where Does Carlos Condit Fit in the New Welterweight Class?

It feels as though Carlos Condit has been gone for years.
In truth, it’s only been 14 months, but so much wholesale change has occurred in his absence that, when Condit returns on Saturday to take on Thiago Alves at UFC Fight Night 67, it’l…

It feels as though Carlos Condit has been gone for years.

In truth, it’s only been 14 months, but so much wholesale change has occurred in his absence that, when Condit returns on Saturday to take on Thiago Alves at UFC Fight Night 67, it’ll be to a welterweight division where anything seems possible.

Last we saw the Natural Born Killer, he blew out his knee in the second round of a bout against Tyron Woodley at UFC 171. That was March 15 of last year, on the same fight card where Johny Hendricks edged Robbie Lawler to seize control of the 170-pound title recently vacated by Georges St-Pierre.

Remember that? Barely? Sounds like ancient history, right?

Turns out, the post-GSP era has been a rough ride for several of the UFC’s top welterweights.

For starters, Condit’s injury let a lot of the air out of Woodley’s victory over him. Woodley lost his next fight to Rory MacDonald and has been in rebuilding mode ever since. So far, so good, with back-to-back victories over Dong Hyun Kim and Kelvin Gastelum, but he’s still not knocking on the door of a title shot.

Meanwhile, Hendricks tore his biceps at UFC 171 and—after his own rehab stint—promptly lost the championship in a rematch with Lawler at UFC 181. He rebounded to defeat Matt Brown three months later but now has to wait for Lawler to fight MacDonald in July before he can move any further up the ranks.

End result: Condit re-enters a wide-open division this weekend, somehow only 31 years old and still No. 4 on the UFC’s official rankings. Not too shabby, all things considered.

Alves doesn’t necessarily shape up as the sort of opponent who can help his standing much, but Condit definitely needs a win here if he wants to keep himself ensconced among the 170-pound Top Five.

“I think that this definitely solidifies my spot as a contender,” he told MMAjunkie radio this week. “Thiago’s not ranked really high right now, but it’s only because he was out with injuries for a long time. He’s without a doubt one of the top guys in the division. A win over him is going to put me in the running for a title shot soon.”

Somehow also just 31 years old, Alves missed more than two years owing to a litany of injuries and rehab efforts. He returned last April with a decision win over Seth Baczynski, but then missed another 13 months before notching a second-round TKO of Jordan Mein.

But that Mein win now looks better on paper for Alves than it did in practice. The Brazilian endured a tough first round at the hands of the 25-year-old upstart before stunning him with a body kick early in the second stanza. He’ll roll into this meeting against Condit slotted at No. 12, and with a lot to gain if he can defy the 2-1 odds against him, according to Odds Shark.

And perhaps that’s sort of what makes this fight so interesting. Here we have two former top fighters—Alves faced St-Pierre for the title at UFC 100, Condit has been WEC champion and UFC interim champ—both theoretically still in the thick of their athletic primes.

Yet we don’t really know what to expect from either of them.

Things had not been going particularly well for Condit even before his injury. Counting the Woodley loss—and he was losing, right up to the moment the knee want kablammo—he’s just 1-3 dating back to November 2012. There are people who would tell you he also lost his previous fight to Nick Diaz at UFC 143, but that’s a different column for a different day.

Those three losses came against elite-level competition—St-Pierre and Hendricks, before Woodley—but the middling record coupled with the extended absence leaves us wondering where he fits in with a greatly changed welterweight picture.

The first five years of Condit’s UFC career left the impression he was better than almost anyone in his weight class, but not quite as good as the very best. But now, the sudden departure of St-Pierre and an unstable situation at the top could very well reopen the book on him.

Who’s to say Condit couldn’t defeat Lawler, if the two ended up fighting later this year?

Who’s to say he couldn’t top Hendricks or Woodley in a rematch?

Who’s to say he couldn’t beat MacDonald a second time, just like he did when they were both UFC pups back in 2010?

We won’t know for sure until we see him out there with Alves, though it’s possible a realigned 170-pound class ends up benefiting a guy like Condit most of all.

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Carlos Condit vs. Thiago Alves: A Full Head-to-Toe Breakdown

After the great UFC 187 main card, the UFC makes its way to Brazil for UFC Fight Night 67. The leader in mixed martial arts will bring a great welterweight main event to your TV screens this coming weekend.
No. 4-ranked contender Carlos Condit returns …

No. 4-ranked contender Carlos Condit returns to action against No. 12-ranked Thiago Alves.

Condit has lost three of his last four fights, but two of those losses came against Georges St. Pierre and Johny Hendricks. He returns after suffering a torn ACL and meniscus in his last fight against Tyron Woodley. Saturday will mark the first time he steps in the cage in over a year.

Alves has suffered a string of injuries of his own. The Brazilian was on the shelf from March 2012 to April 2014. Alves has won back-to-back fights over Seth Baczynski and Jordan Mein. The former title challenger wants to break into the top 10, and a win over Condit would do just that.

Who holds the advantages in Saturday’s main event?

This is your head-to-toe breakdown of the action.

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What Does Neil Magny Have to Do to Get Some Respect Around Here?

“Respect” is a word that is thrown around very often in the world of professional sports.
Some individuals are given too much while there are others who are not getting enough. In combat sports, one should expect that respect comes from winning. …

“Respect” is a word that is thrown around very often in the world of professional sports.

Some individuals are given too much while there are others who are not getting enough. In combat sports, one should expect that respect comes from winning. Unfortunately, Neil Magny is an individual who has bucked that trend. As he prepares to face Hyun Gyu Lim at UFC Fight Night, he still isn’t drawing the attention that his record should elicit.

Magny is 14-3 and is riding a six-fight win streak. This occurred after a less-than-stellar 1-2 start with the promotion. His current success has helped him reach No. 15 in the UFC’s current ranking list. When looking at Magny’s recent performances, this spot is lower than where he should actually sit.

Thiago Alves, Ryan LaFlare, Gunnar Nelson, Rick Story and Kelvin Gastelum are the five individuals that are ranked above Magny. When looking at this list, only Story and Gastelum have recent victories of value that would support an argument of their ranking being higher than Magny. Alves, LaFlare and Nelson each have not put together performances that warrant being ranked in a better position.

Still, Magny is pushing forward on his current path which has allowed him to be one of the most active fighters on the UFC roster.

“I need to get in there and fight as often as possible and make those mistakes and learn from them and try not to make those same mistakes later on,” Magny said in a piece by Thomas Gerbasi on UFC.com. “So if I can stay active and keep fighting, I’d love to.”

That activity is another reason why Magny should receive more respect than he currently does. He has won six fights in 15 months, which deserves high praise. MMA is at a point where many fighters miss ample time due to injury. Alves, who is ranked No. 12, spent two years off due to a serious physical condition. That time away is enough reason to place Magny above Alves and others who he’s outperformed in the last year.

The opinion on Magny should change if he’s able to defeat Lim during this weekend’s card. Lim has defeated three men by violent stoppage since joining the UFC. Even former Strikeforce champion Tarec Saffiedine struggled with Lim when they fought back in 2014. In fact, Lim may find himself a part of the UFC’s divisional rankings if he can defeat Magny.

2015 is nearly halfway over and the MMA community is still pretty mum on Magny’s potential. If he can put together a strong performance, he should expect more praise to come his way. Either way, he’s already put forth his plans for this year.

“2015 is the year I start getting bigger name fights and start getting the fights that can start getting me the recognition that I’ve worked for,” he said in the same UFC.com piece. “I see myself getting the guys in the top 15 and top 10 now and I’ll just climb that ladder and be ready for top five fights and title shots in 2016.”

What does Magny need to do to earn the respect that other fighters have?

Keep winning.

He’s done a great job of it in 2014, and that respect will come if the trend continues throughout 2015.

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Carlos Condit: Natural Born Killer Set to Be Unleashed at Fight Night 67

There is a quiet intensity that pulses through Carlos Condit. One that simmers just below the surface, yet is ever present and readily available when it becomes necessary to tap into. This attribute is the catalyst for his killer instinct inside the cage, and it is his ability to settle his opposition in brutal fashion which has made him a fan favorite over the past decade.

Nevertheless, having spent the past year on the sidelines as he’s rehabilitated a knee injury suffered in his last fight, shaping and corralling that intensity has brought his focus to new levels. The former interim welterweight champion refused to allow his physical situation to eat away at him from the inside, and instead immersed himself in the challenges of his recovery. Where getting back to fighting form may be enough for some fighters, Condit is cut from a different mold.

The Albuquerque native is a firm subscriber to the notion of progression through sacrifice, and he’ll push himself in both the physical and mental realms to ensure the results are produced.

“Recovery has been a tedious process but I always had something to challenge myself with,” Condit said in an exclusive interview. “Luckily I had a physical therapist who really put me through it, and not only helped me get my leg strong, but kept the rest of my body strong as well so I wasn’t coming into my training camp out of shape. It was certainly enough of a challenge to keep me satisfied.

“I kind of feel like I have been in camp this entire time,” he added. “While I was initially training to get back, when the fight was announced it was just shifting into another phase of what I was already doing. Once the fight was announced then it went to watching tape on a particular fighter and working on particular things, but I’ve been training pretty intensely for months and months on end.”

The former WEC welterweight champion has worked relentlessly to make sure he will return to the Octagon in peak form because relentless is the only way “The Natural Born Killer” knows how to operate. And with his long awaited return against Thiago Alves at Fight Night 67 rapidly approaching, the time will soon come for Condit to unleash.

More than 14 months will have passed by when the cage door shuts behind him on May 30 in Goiania, Brazil, and he’s eager to jump back into the fray full tilt to face an opponent who much like himself, has built a storied reputation for bringing highlight-reel-worthy violence on fight night. The American Top Team representative is a former title challenger to the welterweight crown and has remained a divisional staple for the better part of the past decade.

Furthermore, Alves always shows up to throw down and that’s precisely what Condit loves about the matchup. He knows Pitbull will be trying to put him away from the opening bell, and the 31-year-old Jackson/Winkeljohn product couldn’t be happier with those circumstances. Condit believes he’s at his best when the stakes are at their highest and sees his main event tilt with Alves as the perfect scenario to put on an exciting performance for action-hungry fight fans.

“My intensity is right on point,” Condit said. “I’ve had all that intensity bottled up for over a year and I’m ready to get in there and unleash it. This is the perfect opponent to do that with because he’s coming at me. When the bell rings it’s going to be do or die. Either he’s going down or I am. That’s the way I like it. The more dangerous my opponent is the better I fight.

“When I have that sinking feeling in my stomach before a fight and I have that dread that I’m going to step in there with a savage who is coming in there to hurt me…I have my best fights. I’m at my best under those circumstances. This is going to be a great fight. I’ve admired his fighting style for a long time. I want to be in fights the fans want to see and this isn’t going to be something the fans want to miss.”

Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.

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Carlos Condit Returns at UFC Fight Night 67, Will Headline Against Thiago Alves

The Natural Born Killer is back.
After more than a year out of action, Carlos Condit returns to the UFC Octagon on May 30 to face former welterweight title contender Thiago “The Pitbull” Alves in the main event of UFC Fight Night 67 in Goiania, B…

The Natural Born Killer is back.

After more than a year out of action, Carlos Condit returns to the UFC Octagon on May 30 to face former welterweight title contender Thiago “The Pitbull” Alves in the main event of UFC Fight Night 67 in Goiania, Brazil, according to a report from MMAFighting.com’s Guilherme Cruz.

Condit‘s lengthy stint away from the cage was no optional vacation.

The Greg Jackson-trained UFC welterweight needed surgery after blowing out his knee in a fight against Tyron Woodley at UFC 171, and he has been gearing up for his return ever since.

Prior to the fight with Woodley, Condit defeated Martin Kampmann via TKO and looked to be back on track toward the 170-pound title.

Now, he’ll need to build up his title worthiness once more in a headlining bout against Alves in the Pitbull‘s home country of Brazil.

Like Condit, Alves recently spent a considerable amount of time out of action, needing almost two years to heal from multiple injuries. From March 2012 to April 2014, Alves rested and recovered, eventually making his return against Seth Baczynski at UFC on Fox 11.

He won that fight via unanimous decision then followed that victory with another against Jordan Mein at UFC 183, where he scored a vicious body-kick knockout.

Condit, however, is a considerable step up in competition from Baczynski and Mein.

The Natural Born Killer, like Alves, challenged for former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre’s strap, falling via unanimous decision.

From March 2007 to August 2008, Condit held the WEC welterweight title, a distinction he defended three times before migrating to the UFC.

He and Alves own some of the most technical and powerful stand-up in the welterweight division, so as long as Condit‘s knee is 100 percent ready for action, expect this to be a serious Fight of the Night contender.

Stay tuned to Bleacher Report as this card continues to take shape.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Which MMA Fighter Will Test Positive For Steroids Next? A Completely Speculative Investigation

(via Getty)

The past few weeks have been a trying time to be an MMA fan, with random drug tests nailing Anderson Silva (smh), Hector Lombard (could have seen it coming), and Jon Fitch (wah?!) for various types of performance enhancers. MMA has always had something of a drug problem, but 2015 has brought that issue to the forefront with a resounding injection to the buttocks. Worse yet, the UFC’s decision to recently abandon their out-of-competition drug testing program indicates that the sport’s steroid epidemic will only get worse before it gets better.

The question now becomes: Where do we go from here? Well, I’ve talked it over with my highly-dedicated blogging team of less than two people, and the best thing we could think of was to lob a bunch of biased and completely ungrounded accusations at the select group of MMA fighters who’ve yet to test positive for anabolic steroids. F*ck yeah, internet writing!

So without further adieu, join us as we take a look ahead at the hulked-out future of mixed martial arts, and more specifically, which of its fighters will most likely be popped for PED’s.

(via Getty)

So without further adieu, join us as we take a look ahead at the hulked-out future of mixed martial arts, and more specifically, which of its fighters will most likely be popped for PED’s.

The Usual Suspects

Vitor Belfort

Remember how I just said that we would only focus on fighters who *hadn’t* tested positive for steroids before? I lied.

The fact is, Belfort has pissed hot in the past — for 4-hydroxytestosterone following his fight with Dan Henderson at Pride 32 — and experienced a highly suspect career resurgence after jumping on the TRT train back in 2013. Although Belfort has vehemently denied abusing TRT and stated that he only used it to maintain normal testosterone levels, he also managed to transition off the therapy almost seamlessly in the time since. With his title shot against Chris Weidman having been pushed off half a dozen times now, #TheTimeIsRunningOut on Belfort’s vitality as a top-level fighter. If he’s resorted to the juice in the past, our guess is that he’d be willing to do it again.

Rafael Cavalcante

Like Belfort, “Feijao” has also tested positive for steroids in the past. In his final Strikeforce appearance, Cavalcante tested positive for stanozolol following his first rounds submission win over Mike Kyle. He was punished for this by being signed by the UFC. Cavalcante has also dropped two out of his past three UFC fights, meaning that he is in dire need of a win if he is to continue fighting for the Ultimate Roided Fucking Killers League. So what’s he supposed to do? *Not* take steroids, lose his next fight, and receive his pink slip, or take steroids, win the fight, and apologize afterward as a still-current UFC employee? The solution is obvious.

You Know What, Every Black House Fighter

Here’s what we know: Three Black House fighters have tested positive for steroids in the past seven months. The man pictured above is their strength and conditioning coach. He is 57 years old.

The Questionable Physiques

Phil Davis

Just look at that cartoonishly shaped torso. Phil Davis is sculpted like a Greek statue, and we don’t buy for a second that he achieved it naturally. “Mr. Wonderful?” More like “Mr. ROID-derful.” #NailedIt

Todd Duffee

No further comment required.

Thiago Alves

Not only is Thiago Alves the buffest welterweight of all time, but in his most recent fight, he dispatched Jordan Mein — a kickboxer since age 11 — with ONE KICK. How’d he do it? Roids. The answer is clearly roids.

Mirko Cro Cop

According to our diligent research, this photo of Mirko Cro Cop was taken last week and has not been altered in any way, shape, or form. Expect to hear word of his positive test shortly after he dispatches Gabe Gonzaga via nuclear holocaust in April.

Cheick Kongo

Cheick Kongo has pectorals the size of dinner plates and a history of using dirty tactics to win fights. By that logic, why *wouldn’t* he resort to the dirtiest tactic of all to win a few more? Daddy needs all those Bellator dollars to support his crippling addiction to Rocky Mountain oysters.

On the “next page” we take aim at some of the sport’s champions, as well as some of the less obvious (but totally obvious to us) roid heads currently slipping under the radar…