It’s funny how quickly things can change.On Saturday night following a unanimous decision loss to Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz announced that he didn’t “need this s**t” and was most likely going to walk away from MMA. That retiremen…
It’s funny how quickly things can change.
On Saturday night following a unanimous decision loss to Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz announced that he didn’t “need this s**t” and was most likely going to walk away from MMA. That retirement may have to wait.
Late Tuesday night, UFC president Dana Whitetweeted, “the rumor is true. Carlos did accept the fight today and Carlos is coming on Friday not thur.” That effectively confirmed a rumor that had been circulating earlier in the day that Diaz and Condit would meet in a rematch.
Diaz and Condit met on Feb. 4 in the main event of UFC 143. Heading into the bout, fans were most likely expecting two of the best strikers in the welterweight division to stand toe-to-toe and throw down. Instead, what they got was a masterful game plan from Carlos Condit.
Condit and his camp at Jackson’s MMA knew exactly what Diaz’s game plan was for this fight—hell, everyone knew what Diaz’s game plan was going to be for the fight: Get Condit up against the cage and pepper him with as many strikes as humanly possible.
Instead of accepting that type of scrap, Condit opted to stay mobile during the fight, backing up, never letting Diaz pin him against the fence and yet delivering more overall strikes and earning the unanimous decision victory.
The style in which the fight was won may have left some fans disappointed, and it definitely left Diaz disappointed.
“I pushed this guy backwards. He ran from me the whole fight. He ran this whole fight,” Diaz said during his in-cage post-fight interview. “I landed the harder shots. He ran the whole time. He kicked me in the leg with little baby leg kicks the whole fight. That’s the way they understand to win in here. I don’t want to play this game no more.”
What the fans wanted and what Diaz said after the loss, none of it mattered because the scorecards said that Condit was the new interim UFC welterweight champion and he, not Diaz, walked out of the Mandalay Bay Events Center with UFC gold around his waist.
While White’s tweet shouldn’t be seen as a confirmation of the fight, it does imply something is in the works, for if the fighters both want it, there is no reason not to make this rematch happen.
While reigning UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre congratulated Greg Jackson’s MMA teammate Carlos Condit for winning the interim UFC welterweight title at UFC 143, he is still looking forward a fight with Nick Diaz. On Monday, St-Pierre …
While reigning UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre congratulated Greg Jackson’s MMA teammate Carlos Condit for winning the interim UFC welterweight title at UFC 143, he is still looking forward a fight with Nick Diaz.
After defeating B.J. Penn at UFC 137, Diaz called out GSP by questioning whether or not the champ was truly forced off the card with an injury, of if he was just “scared” to fight the Stockton, Calif. bad boy.
GSP reacted by pleading with UFC president Dana White to book a title fight with Diaz, despite the fact that the champion was supposed to fight Condit for the 12 pounds of gold on the same card.
A bout between Diaz and St-Pierre was then booked for UFC 143, only for “Rush” to pull out of the event shortly afterwards when it was revealed he suffered a torn ACL during training.
If the current 170-pound kingpin was still not fully recovered at that point, Condit would then defend his interim title at least one time before meeting his teammate in a belt unification fight.
Carlos Condit’s win over Nick Diaz at UFC 143 hasn’t necessarily won him over with many fans as of late, even forcing UFC President Dana White to possibly consider a rematch between the two competitors while Georges St-Pierre remains out of action.But …
Carlos Condit’s win over Nick Diaz at UFC 143 hasn’t necessarily won him over with many fans as of late, even forcing UFC President Dana White to possibly consider a rematch between the two competitors while Georges St-Pierre remains out of action.
But Condit and his camp are not interested in a rematch with Diaz at this time.
Condit’s manager, Malki Kawa, appeared onThe MMA Hour earlier this week to discuss the possibility of pairing up Condit and Diaz once more. But he said “The Natural Born Killer” would rather focus on his upcoming title bout with St-Pierre.
“At this point, [a rematch] is not something we’re looking to do, we’re looking for Georges,” Kawa said.
“He won the fight. It doesn’t interest us at all.”
Condit drew a lot of criticism from fans for his game plan heading into the bout. A recipient of “Knockout of the Night” honours in his past two bouts, Condit was much more strategic in his approach as opposed to being aggressive.
Kawa defended Condit’s performance and he said the opportunity for a knockout isn’t always present. Kawa pointed out the fact that Condit out-struck Diaz in nearly every category, frustrating the former Strikeforce welterweight champion in the process.
“He picked apart a very formidable fighter,” he said.
“People are like, ‘Oh, Carlos is not a finisher,’ the guy threw how many spinning elbows? How many spinning back fists? He threw a flying knee. He tried to finish Nick Diaz when the time and the opening was there. I can’t find a flaw in his performance.”
Condit is expected to take some time off before he evaluates his next move in the Octagon. Depending on St-Pierre’s recovery time, Condit has been vocal about making one title defense.
However, as far as that title defense coming against Diaz, Kawa said neither Condit nor his camp are intrigued by the idea.
“The fans disagree [with the decision] because they got hyped up to see Nick and Georges fight each other,” he said. “Well, let them fight each other. We’ve moved on.”
According to MMAFighting, Cesar Gracie has come out firing on all cylinders, claiming that the judges who adjudicated the UFC 143 main event don’t and have never liked Nick Diaz, and also asserted that it was pretty much a case of a prolonged per…
According to MMAFighting, Cesar Gracie has come out firing on all cylinders, claiming that the judges who adjudicated the UFC 143 main event don’t and have never liked Nick Diaz, and also asserted that it was pretty much a case of a prolonged personal vendetta against his charge.
“I don’t think the judges like Nick,” he said. “He comes off, he talks in the ring… Carlos was running at one point, and Nick slapped him in the face said, ‘Quit running.’ We were there for a dogfight. Carlos said he’d provide for the fans a dogfight, a great fight where they were going to go at it. That was not a dogfight. It takes two to make a dogfight. One guy running away is not a dogfight.
“I don’t know what the judges were looking at,” he continued. “They’ve never liked Nick in Vegas. They’ve never voted for him in a decision. The only one was the BJ Penn fight, and he almost had to kill BJ to get that one. I don’t think they like his attitude, a guy that’s going to go out there and talk. I think they think he’s disrespectful. They’re going to find a reason to judge against him. I don’t think he can get fair judging in that state at all.”
The cage-side judges, Junichiro Kamijo, Cecil Peoples and Patricia Morse-Jarman, unanimously scored the bout 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 in favor of Carlos Condit, who also captured the interim welterweight title in the process.
Though, Gracie was mostly irked by the way he felt the judges scored the first round.
“I literally just got off my computer to watch that first round again,” he said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “And I thought, you’d have to be insane to think a guy chasing the other guy down, landing the significant punches, and running after a guy, trying to fight a guy who will not fight, that is scared to fight, and you lose? How do I tell my fighter what he should have done better? It takes two men to fight. If one guy doesn’t fight, that should be a point deducted.”
That win has now propelled “The Natural Born Killer” to the No. 1 contender to Georges St-Pierre’s championship belt, a status that has earned him the right to vie for title when next St-Pierre sets foot into the Octagon.
Conversely, following the judges’ decision, a distraught Diaz subsequently announced his retirement from professional MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). However, an immediate rematch, something which UFC president Dana White seems to be in favor of, could bring the Stocktonian back into the fold.
Though, Gracie has yet to hear anything from that quarter.
“Of course they’re not interested in a rematch,” he said. “They lost the first one.”
That said, amidst all the brouhaha surrounding the decision, and especially the way Condit was alleged to have ran throughout the bout, Gracie harbours no ill feelings towards him, though the same can’t be said about Jackson’s Submission Fighting gym.
“It’s one thing to avoid standing in the pocket, it’s one thing to know how to dodge punches and kicks, and be somewhat elusive and have great defense,” he said. “It’s another thing to turn your back and run from a fighter. That’s completely different. You shouldn’t be telling your fighter to fight like that. I think it’s a disgrace and a shame. I’ve said this before: I don’t like that camp. I’m not going to take that back,” Gracie said.
Gracie took a parting shot at the judges who presided over the bout as well as, suggesting that the overall judging system reeks of inefficacy.
“The whole judging criteria is so flawed, and that these guys don’t have anyone to answer to,” he said. “Once they’re in there, they’re not getting reviewed. You’re going to get fired because you’re obviously an incompetent judge? That doesn’t happen. It’s like the Supreme Court. You’re in there for life. You can do whatever you want and you can tell everybody basically to ‘F off’ if they don’t like it. It’s a position of total power. They’re making decisions that are ruining the sport and are ridiculous. No one’s going to get them out of there. It’s absurd if you think about it.”
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Following an impressive return to the Octagon last weekend at UFC 143, Fabricio Werdum is now eyeing a top contender for his next bout.The Brazilian’s performance against Roy Nelson was one of the best showings of his career, as he looked to have impro…
Following an impressive return to the Octagon last weekend at UFC 143, Fabricio Werdum is now eyeing a top contender for his next bout.
The Brazilian’s performance against Roy Nelson was one of the best showings of his career, as he looked to have improved on some of the weaker areas of his game—especially his striking—as he picked his shots and landed multiple knees to his opponent.
The win has now improved Werdum’s UFC record to 3-2 and could potentially put him near the upper echelon of the heavyweight division. As far as a future opponent for “Vai Cavalo,” he didn’t want to drop any name in particular, but he said he would consider a bout with Frank Mir.
“Anybody, I’m prepared to fight anybody. I’ve never picked out opponents my entire life,” Werdum told TATAME.com. “If it’s Frank Mir, excellent. If it’s not, it’s ok. I just wanna show I’m in the top 10 of the division.”
And Werdum feels there’s no other place than to solidify his presence in his homeland of Brazil.
“I hope I can fight in June in Brazil,” he said. “God bless me, UFC will give me the chance to bring this joy to people in Brazil.”
Werdum’s return to the UFC made up for his past performances that saw him record victories over such fighters like Brandon Vera and Gabriel Gonzaga, but it was his knockout loss to current UFC heavyweight champion, Junior dos Santos, that ended his tenure in the company.
The loss certainly left a bad taste in his mouth and it has motivated Werdum to challenge for a title shot within the next year.
“I have to fight Cigano again. When he got here, people didn’t know him in the UFC and I took that fight,” he said. “When UFC offers me this fight, in three, four fights from now, I hope he accepts it.”
By Elias Cepeda (“I am not im-pressed wit my lack of title de-fense.”)
It’s time to strip Georges St. Pierre of his UFC welterweight championship.
Ok, perhaps not at this very moment, but come May 1, it will have been over a year since the UFC champ has defended his 170lb strap. St. Pierre hasn’t run from challenges or fights, he’s just had several consecutive knee injuries (the most recent one, a torn ACL that required surgery to repair) that have forced him to pull out of scheduled belt defenses.
Carlos Condit just won a razor-thin interim title bout against Nick Diaz at UFC 143, but would have to wait until the new year is almost over before being able to fight GSP. The Canadian says he won’t be ready to fight again until November. Unfortunately, we’ve seen these situations in the UFC before and a standard has emerged of champions needing to defend their titles at least once a year. In 2004, UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir was in a motorcycle accident that put him on the shelf. Initially, when it was unknown if and when he would return, an interim title was created and was won by Andrei Arlovski. When it was clear that Mir would go longer than a year without defending his belt, the interim champ was made the “full” champ. It wasn’t about punishing Mir, it was simply about letting the division continue, with significant matchups made and fights promoted well.
Even GSP seems to agree that he shouldn’t be considered the UFC champion while going so long without defending the gold. “The way I see it, I am not the champion anymore on Saturday night. I have not fought since April, against my will, but I understand the champion must fight. You have to put the belt on the line in order to call yourself champion, the best in the world. Right now I am not the best in the world, I am injured,” he told UFC.com shortly before UFC 143.
By Elias Cepeda (“I am not im-pressed wit my lack of title de-fense.”)
It’s time to strip Georges St. Pierre of his UFC welterweight championship.
Ok, perhaps not at this very moment, but come May 1, it will have been over a year since the UFC champ has defended his 170lb strap. St. Pierre hasn’t run from challenges or fights, he’s just had several consecutive knee injuries (the most recent one, a torn ACL that required surgery to repair) that have forced him to pull out of scheduled belt defenses.
Carlos Condit just won a razor-thin interim title bout against Nick Diaz at UFC 143, but would have to wait until the new year is almost over before being able to fight GSP. The Canadian says he won’t be ready to fight again until November. Unfortunately, we’ve seen these situations in the UFC before and a standard has emerged of champions needing to defend their titles at least once a year. In 2004, UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir was in a motorcycle accident that put him on the shelf. Initially, when it was unknown if and when he would return, an interim title was created and was won by Andrei Arlovski. When it was clear that Mir would go longer than a year without defending his belt, the interim champ was made the “full” champ. It wasn’t about punishing Mir, it was simply about letting the division continue, with significant matchups made and fights promoted well.
Even GSP seems to agree that he shouldn’t be considered the UFC champion while going so long without defending the gold. “The way I see it, I am not the champion anymore on Saturday night. I have not fought since April, against my will, but I understand the champion must fight. You have to put the belt on the line in order to call yourself champion, the best in the world. Right now I am not the best in the world, I am injured,” he told UFC.com shortly before UFC 143.
UFC President Dana White was asked about immediately rematching Condit and Diaz at the UFC 143 post-event presser and said, “I don’t know. That’s crazy. That’s crazy.” Then again, he said it with a grin on his face. One has to guess that White wouldn’t mind another grudge match that features lots of Nick Diaz doing this in the lead up promotion.
But the only reason an immediate return bout for Condit and Diaz would be “crazy,” is if it wasn’t for the UFC welterweight belt. Condit having to beat Diaz twice for a shot at St. Pierre smacks of unfairness.
But take St. Pierre out of the immediate title equation, because he, like past injured champions, is not able to defend his title within a year, and you’ve got Carlos Condit as the defending UFC welterweight against his new shit-talking nemesis who just went blow for blow with him in a close five-rounder.
Automatic title rematches after close bouts are almost the norm in the UFC. See Randy Couture versus Pedro Rizzo in 2001, Lyoto Machida versus “Shogun” Rua in 2009 and 2010, and Frankie Edgar versus Gray Maynard in 2011. The only reason most haven’t been calling for the same to happen with Condit and Diaz is that there is currently the pesky matter of multiple champions.
Before UFC 143 the welterweight division had a love triangle of GSP, Diaz and Condit. Hell, St. Pierre was even a central character in Condit and Diaz’s Primetime special. After their close stand-up battle last weekend, and with GSP still unable to fight, we’ve basically got the same top three guys in play. It would be unfair to expect Condit and Diaz to go the better part of a year without the wages another fight would earn them while everyone waits for St. Pierre to heal up. And having either or both of them fight other men could just confuse the title picture further and push the rivalries that we’ve come to care about these past few months to the back burner.
White has said that Diaz fighting Koscheck next is interesting to him, but would it be to that many others? I, for one, am more interested to see if Koscheck can actually earn a win against someone like Mike Pierce after a gift decision Saturday. And with his wrestling Koscheck would have a good shot at beating Diaz, placing him closer to a third fight with St. Pierre that no one without a curly bleached FresnoFro wants to see. I’d much rather see Josh Koscheck and Javier Mendez square off after recent events.
St. Pierre is the best welterweight the UFC has, but unfortunately injuries have taken him out of the game for the time being. He can’t defend his title the way champions have historically had to, or in a manner that even he feels is sufficient.
Don’t make Condit sit out almost a year without earning a purse, the guy has a wife and kid to take care of, after all. Give the man the title he’s earned by winning against the number one contender and by essentially being on call for big fights for the last seven months and then let him earn his paper by taking on the man who made the “Natural Born Killer” turn to masterful tactics over his usual reckless abandon.
With Condit vs. Diaz II, the fans would have another evenly-matched blockbuster on their hands between two men who will start to resent each other more and more with each passing day. Would it suck for St. Pierre? Absolutely, but it wouldn’t be unfair to him.
Here’s an added bonus: Think St. Pierre doesn’t go for the finish anymore? Imagine the aggressive riddum he’d bring when he returns to bear on the man who holds the belt he never technically lost.
It’s funny how quickly things can change.