After the show that the UFC put on FOX it could be easy to get discouraged. The fights weren’t the most exciting even if they did have some of the best fighters in the world competing in them.However, the UFC 143 card has a lot of fighters who are know…
After the show that the UFC put on FOX it could be easy to get discouraged. The fights weren’t the most exciting even if they did have some of the best fighters in the world competing in them.
However, the UFC 143 card has a lot of fighters who are known for bringing excitement and winning bonuses stacked on the card and facing each other, which is always a good sign. The UFC may stumble every now and then, but for the most part they know how to put on a great event.
So here to help remind you why MMA is worth getting excited for are the top 10 reasons to get jazzed about UFC 143.
In the main event at UFC 143, Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit contend for the Interim welterweight championship en route to an eventual clash with the division’s elected 170-lb titlist Georges St. Pierre who is currently convalescing following a knee…
In the main event at UFC 143, Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit contend for the Interim welterweight championship en route to an eventual clash with the division’s elected 170-lb titlist Georges St. Pierre who is currently convalescing following a knee injury.
St. Pierre’s coveted crown is really what’s at stake here—the chance to upend the seemingly indomitable Canadian and wear UFC gold looms ever-large.
However, first they have to prove that they’ve earned that shot.
Though both combatants have almost similar skill sets at hand, the question is who will come out victorious on fight night?
UFC 143 is almost here and the fight between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit will be a great one, albeit a fight casual fans might not know much about.Both men are great, but there is a whole undercard of talented fighters that will be on before them. Betw…
UFC 143 is almost here and the fight between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit will be a great one, albeit a fight casual fans might not know much about.
Both men are great, but there is a whole undercard of talented fighters that will be on before them. Between strikers, submission artists and wrestlers, this fight card has a little bit of everything for the hardcore fight fan.
Normally, there would be a bit of a cool-down period between the fights on FOX and the next pay-per-view card, but it seems the UFC is jumping in quickly after their last card.
So without further delay, here are the predictions for each fight on the card.
This weekend, the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev., plays host to UFC 143, which will feature the eagerly-anticipated clash between main eventers Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit. After almost three-plus years away from the Octagon following hi…
This weekend, the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev., plays host to UFC 143, which will feature the eagerly-anticipated clash between main eventers Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit.
After almost three-plus years away from the Octagon following his loss to Junior Dos Santos at UFC 90, Fabricio Werdum makes his return in the co-main event, where he’ll lock horns with Roy Nelson.
Even though there is an array of talent on display that could end up winning fight of the night honors—Josh Koscheck and most notably, Renan Barão, whom at present is riding a 27-fight winning streak, the fight that will definitely steal the show has to be the interim welterweight title bout between Diaz and Condit.
Both fighters were on the cusp of vying for the coveted belt, currently held by the recuperating Georges St-Pierre, only to have their title aspirations dashed due to foreseen (Diaz) and unforeseen circumstances.
Now that an opportunity presents itself in the guise of the interim belt, it’s all to play for, and the stakes are massively high.
Diaz whose most recent victory was a near enough one-sided beatdown of “The Prodigy,” BJ Penn, relinquished his Strikeforce welterweight crown for pastures anew at the Zuffa-based promotion and with the sole intention of usurping St. Pierre as the division’s kingpin.
Conversely, Condit is coming off two knock out of the night wins against Dan Hardy and Dong Hyun Kim and has ambitions of his own regarding the title.
Both combatants possess great striking ability and some serious submissions skills to boot.
A loss for the Stockton native “The Natural-Born Killer,” Condit, will be a huge fail in every sense of the word—it will more or less have proven that neither fighter was a title contender in the first place.
With everything on the line, expect this matchup to be a war of attrition—a state of the art bagarre.
UFC 143 is scheduled for Feb. 4, 2012, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev.
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UFC’s second batch of fights on FOX may not have delivered on the level that fans wanted, but the promotion has barely any off time, with UFC 143 set for Feb. 4,.This time, the main event is fan-friendly, with Nick Diaz taking on Carlos Condit. Both ma…
UFC’s second batch of fights on FOX may not have delivered on the level that fans wanted, but the promotion has barely any off time, with UFC 143 set for Feb. 4,.
This time, the main event is fan-friendly, with Nick Diaz taking on Carlos Condit. Both many are superior strikers, with each man being known for either submitting their opponents or knocking them out.
Neither man is known for going the distance or making boring fights, with Diaz winning Fight of the Night in his promotional debut, and his only fight so far with the company, and Condit winning Knockout of the Night twice and Fight of the Night once.
Both men are savants when it comes to fighting with Condit, having been given the nickname “Natural-Born Killer” for his talents at dispatching opponents at a young age.
Diaz is almost facing a mirror image of himself in many ways, albeit one that is a bit more polite.
Nick Diaz is just as talented, having fought in Pride and the original WEC before it was purchased by the UFC, but having just turned 28. Until recently, he was the Strikeforce welterweight champion and tried calling out UFC champion Georges St-Pierre.
It didn’t seem like the bout was going to happen, but then, the UFC bought out its competitor and put the fight together. The only problem is that Diaz no-showed for the press conferences, and a match was made between St-Pierre and Condit.
Then, both St-Pierre and Condit got injured, and BJ Penn and Diaz were forced to headline the card. Diaz still wanted a shot at the champion. Unfortunately, St-Pierre is going to be out for most of 2012, so Diaz will have to take the fight with Condit for the interim title and win it if he still wants the match.
And the biggest threat for Diaz in this match is letting himself take risks he can’t afford. For as talented as BJ Penn is, he has never been the greatest striker, but he chose to stand with Diaz anyway. Diaz obliged him and won.
But Diaz has been willing to stand and trade with fighters who excel at striking as well. In Strikeforce, he faced Paul “Semtex” Daley, a fighter known for his power punches, and almost got taken out because of it. He may have won in the end, but it was a gamble that he didn’t have to take.
Daley is weak against grappling and wrestling, and Diaz could have won if he had just put the fight on the ground, but that confidence in his abilities is what makes Diaz so great.
And against Condit, it will be his biggest weakness. Condit has more precise stand up than many of the other fighters Diaz has faced off with and could find a way to get through the former champion’s rangey boxing.
If Condit does find an opening, he might end the fight, as he has shown in both the Dan Hardy and Rory McDonald fights that he can make opponents pay for giving him openings and turn around any fight for a win.
And if Diaz gives him the chance, he may just do that at UFC 143.
Then, Diaz will have to wait even longer for a shot at the championship and the big-money fight that comes with it. Then, he might be too late.
Matthew Hemphill writes for the MMA and professional wrestling portion of Bleacher Report. He also hosts a blog elbaexiled.blogspot.com, which focuses on books, music, comic books, video games, film and generally anything that could be related to the realms of nerdom.
This weekend, the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev., plays host to