Following his razor thin split-decision loss to Robbie Lawler at UFC 195, it looked as if Carlos Condit might be hanging up his gloves for good. It was his second title fight loss in as many attempts (not counting his interim title win over Nick Diaz), the UFC didn’t appear to have any interest in booking an immediate rematch, and Condit himself had mentioned some concerns about the future of his mental well-being. When looking back on his illustrious 39-fight career, it just didn’t seem as if Condit had anything left to prove, which made his impending decision all the more sensible.
On the other hand, pride. If Georges St. Pierre, BJ Penn, and Fedor Emelianenko still believe that they have another title run left in them, then why shouldn’t Condit? A win over any top 10 opponent should put him right back in the running, so really, it’d be foolish for Condit *not* to put his health on the line for one last shot at glory, if you think about it.
Thankfully, it appears that this line of thinking is something that “The Natural Born Killer” can get behind, which is why he’s announced that he will in fact be returning to take on fellow top contender Demian Maia at UFC 202.
Following his razor thin split-decision loss to Robbie Lawler at UFC 195, it looked as if Carlos Condit might be hanging up his gloves for good. It was his second title fight loss in as many attempts (not counting his interim title win over Nick Diaz), the UFC didn’t appear to have any interest in booking an immediate rematch, and Condit himself had mentioned some concerns about the future of his mental well-being. When looking back on his illustrious 39-fight career, it just didn’t seem as if Condit had anything left to prove, which made his impending decision all the more sensible.
On the other hand, pride. If Georges St. Pierre, BJ Penn, and Fedor Emelianenko still believe that they have another title run left in them, then why shouldn’t Condit? A win over any top 10 opponent should put him right back in the running, so really, it’d be foolish for Condit *not* to put his health on the line for one last shot at glory, if you think about it.
Thankfully, it appears that this line of thinking is something that “The Natural Born Killer” can get behind, which is why he’s announced that he will in fact be returning to take on fellow top contender Demian Maia at UFC 202.
Details after the jump.
At 38 years of age, Maia is basically living, breathing proof that the 32-year-old Condit may very well have his best years still ahead of him. The Brazilian grappling specialist is currently riding a six fight win streak including one-sided wins over Matt Brown, Gunnar Nelson, and Neil Magny and seems destined for a title shot himself, which makes a matchup with Condit damn near poetic if you ask me.
Prior to his loss at UFC 195, Condit put the whooping of a lifetime on Thiago Alves en route to a second round TKO finish and should make for a tough style matchup against Maia, with the winner undoubtedly being on the short list of challengers for the welterweight title. That is, unless the current crop of contenders (Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson) find themselves in a Hendricks-Lawler-MacDonald rematch love triangle like we’ve seen before. Which knowing our luck will almost certainly happen, for the MMA Gods are a cruel and unforgiving bunch.
In other welterweight fight booking news, Dong Hyun Kim has agreed to face Neil Magny at UFC 202 in a matchup that will likely earn the winner a chance to get slaughtered by the Condit-Maia winner, the Woodley-Lawler loser, or maybe Johny Hendricks. After seeing his 4-fight win streak halted by “T-Wood” (I’m sorry, “The Chosen One”) back in 2014, Kim bounced back last year with back-to-back wins over Josh Burkman and Dominic Waters. Magny is similarly enjoying a bit of a rebound streak, having scored three straight wins over Erick Silva, Kelvin Gastelum, and Hector Lombard since being dominated by Maia at UFC 190.
Fun fact: Magny has fought 11 times in the past 2 years, which is just two fights shy of what former P4P king Cain velasquez has fought in his entire UFC career.
UFC 202 goes down on August 20th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Healed from a rib injury that forced him out of a scheduled matchup with Brandon Thatch at UFC Fight Night 60, Stephen Thompson is now set for what could be an even tougher test against Jake Ellenberger. The 170-pound matchup was reported by ESPN writer Brett Okamoto on Thursday: Ellenberger hasn’t had a ton of […]
Healed from a rib injury that forced him out of a scheduled matchup with Brandon Thatch at UFC Fight Night 60, Stephen Thompson is now set for what could be an even tougher test against Jake Ellenberger. The 170-pound matchup was reported by ESPN writer Brett Okamoto on Thursday: Ellenberger hasn’t had a ton of […]
Another week, another continuation of the self-proclaimed best series on the Internet. That’s right, the “Prospects the UFC Should Sign” series is back with a vengeance. We left off with the middleweights, and now, we move on to the welterweight division. The welterweight division is one of the most stacked and talent-laden divisions in the UFC […]
Another week, another continuation of the self-proclaimed best series on the Internet. That’s right, the “Prospects the UFC Should Sign” series is back with a vengeance. We left off with the middleweights, and now, we move on to the welterweight division. The welterweight division is one of the most stacked and talent-laden divisions in the UFC […]
For the first time in years, the welterweight division is wide open. After almost a decade on top, Georges St-Pierre has finally relinquished his death grip on the weight class, leaving the sport and his championship belt in the wake of injury and discontent. While we’ll miss one of the sport’s all-time greats, his departure […]
For the first time in years, the welterweight division is wide open. After almost a decade on top, Georges St-Pierre has finally relinquished his death grip on the weight class, leaving the sport and his championship belt in the wake of injury and discontent. While we’ll miss one of the sport’s all-time greats, his departure […]
Of course, MMA fans being MMA fans, half of the questions Brown was forced to answer were either related to the back injury that forced him out of his UFC on FOX 9 fight with Carlos Condit, or how many wins he felt he was from a title shot. Real thought-provoking stuff, you guys. There were, however, a handful of questions that managed to get a rise out of “The Immortal,” so here are the 10 best ones.
1. How would you feel about if the UFC adopted Pride rules, or GSP’s and Gilbert Melendez‘s sugestion (sic) that there should be only one round (lasting around 25 minute)?
I agree with Gil. I understand why they don’t do it, but I wish the fight would be no time limit and no rounds and Pride rules with elbows allowed.
Of course, MMA fans being MMA fans, half of the questions Brown was forced to answer were either related to the back injury that forced him out of his UFC on FOX 9 fight with Carlos Condit, or how many wins he felt he was from a title shot. Real thought-provoking stuff, you guys. There were, however, a handful of questions that managed to get a rise out of “The Immortal,” so here are the 10 best ones.
1. How would you feel about if the UFC adopted Pride rules, or GSP’s and Gilbert Melendez‘s sugestion (sic) that there should be only one round (lasting around 25 minute)?
I agree with Gil. I understand why they don’t do it, but I wish the fight would be no time limit and no rounds and Pride rules with elbows allowed.
Cuz I don’t patty cake. Anyone I hit that many times will be ko’d no question.
3. Do you really want Cyborg to fight topless?
How did I know this would be one of the first questions?
4. Who is the toughest opponent you have faced thus far?
Douglas Lima I think was my toughest fight cause he kicked my leg harder than it had ever been kicked before or since.
5. What do you think is the reason for your career resurgence?
I look at it differently. My career went through some hard times due to personal issues and internal focus. So I fell off the path for some time. I am simply back on the path that I was previously on.
6a. What do you feel is the most memorable event in your MMA career so far?
Fighting in my home town (Columbus, Ohio) against Pete Sell and putting on a really good performance.
6b. Do you know why that ref hated Pete Sell?
Haha because Yves Lavigne is not a good ref.
7. Do you ever read news about Mike Brown and freak out thinking its about you? I know we all flipped out here a couple of days ago when they announced Mike was out of his latest fight because 90% just read ‘M Brown’ and thought it was you.
No but I have got tons of fan mail for him. A lot more when he was champion. People also used to ask me if I was Mike Brown. Eventually I just started saying no and walking away. I always came back though lol
8. Can you clear the air about the comments you made on your podcast. Was it humor taken out of context? If so, what’s your real take on WMMA?
It was taken out of context, yes. It was blown out of proportion by a juvenile media reporter on a slow news week. (Ed note: He couldn’t be talking about *me*, right? No, definitely not.)
(Pictured above: A semi-retired welterweight on a two fight losing streak who will not be featured in this column. Photo via Getty.)
There’s been a lot of talk about who the next #1 welterweight contender is following UFC 171, so much so that we have all but neglected to give the division’s new champ, Johny Hendricks, his due credit for outlasting Robbie Lawler in an absolute war to secure said title last Saturday. Some are saying that Tyron Woodley should get the next shot, regardless of the circumstances that led to his TKO win over Carlos Condit. Other, less creative individuals are calling for an immediate Hendricks/Lawler rematch, and a few loons out there are honestly, unbelievably, rallying to give Nick Diaz another completely unearned title shot. A blindly-devoted, if illogical bunch, us MMA fans oft are.
But one thing’s for the certain, the UFC’s welterweight division — and specifically, the claim of being the true #1 contender — is open for the taking once again. So to clear up any and all confusion regarding this talent-rich division, we’ve decided to definitively rank the top five contenders using only the power of Johny Vision™ (warning: may cause diarrhea, dip-spit mouth, and beard face).
Up until the point that Carlos Condit’s knee decided to implode against Tyron Woodley, well, he was losing his fight with Tyron Woodley. The notoriously slow starter was getting off second and failing to outmaneuver the quick hands of Woodley in most of their early exchanges and was taken down twice in the first round. But getting dominated? Hardly.
(Pictured above: A semi-retired welterweight on a two fight losing streak who will not be featured in this column. Photo via Getty.)
There’s been a lot of talk about who the next #1 welterweight contender is following UFC 171, so much so that we have all but neglected to give the division’s new champ, Johny Hendricks, his due credit for outlasting Robbie Lawler in an absolute war to secure said title last Saturday. Some are saying that Tyron Woodley should get the next shot, regardless of the circumstances that led to his TKO win over Carlos Condit. Other, less creative individuals are calling for an immediate Hendricks/Lawler rematch, and a few loons out there are honestly, unbelievably, rallying to give Nick Diaz another completely unearned title shot. A blindly-devoted, if illogical bunch, us MMA fans oft are.
But one thing’s for the certain, the UFC’s welterweight division — and specifically, the claim of being the true #1 contender — is open for the taking once again. So to clear up any and all confusion regarding this talent-rich division, we’ve decided to definitively rank the top five contenders using only the power of Johny Vision™ (warning: may cause diarrhea, dip-spit mouth, and beard face).
Up until the point that Carlos Condit’s knee decided to implode against Tyron Woodley, well, he was losing his fight with Tyron Woodley. The notoriously slow starter was getting off second and failing to outmaneuver the quick hands of Woodley in most of their early exchanges and was taken down twice in the first round. But getting dominated? Hardly.
When looking over the welterweight division’s list offighters, it would be hard to find more than a few guys who stand a chance of beating “The Natural Born Killer” on even his worst day. With wins over Rory MacDonald, Nick Diaz, Dong Hyun-Kim, and close losses to Georges St. Pierre and Johny Hendricks, Condit still maintains his top five ranking despite dropping three of his past four fights. A crazy notion perhaps, but a fair one when discussing a perennial upper-echelon contender like Condit. And honestly, we’d still pick a healthy Carlos over a couple of the guys we are about to rank ahead of him.
The fact is, a win over Jake Shields — no matter how ineffective or exhausted or truly garbage-ass he looked — is a win worthy of consideration. Few of us could say that we saw Lombard heading for anything but “Biggest UFC Busts” territory after his first three fights — a pair of unforgettable in their terribleness decision losses to Tim Boetsch and Yushin Okami sandwiched around a first round KO over Rousimar Palhares. And while it’s true that Lombard is still struggling to find consistency in the excitement department since dropping to welterweight, he surely isn’t having any trouble in the win department.
After starching Nate Marquardt at UFC 166, Lombard looked as if he was destined for another first round knockout against Shields last weekend. He had bloodied up the former title challenger inside of two minutes, had defended all of his takedowns, and had even landed a beautiful judo toss of his own. It was absolute dominance; perhaps the best round Lombard has had in the UFC (that didn’t result in a finish).
But then, he just kind of coasted. He played it safe. For a man that is known as such a mean SOB even among MMA fighters, Lombard seemed all too willing to turn on the autopilot for two rounds. Unfortunately, we were all too busy criticizing Lombard to recognize that he had made quite a definitive statement with his performance, lackluster though it may have been. Let me ask you this: Aside from GSP, who has ever dominated Jake Shields on the ground like that? Demian Maia couldn’t. Tyron Woodley sure as hell couldn’t. But Hector Lombard did, and with ease.
Title-ready Lombard may not be, but worthy of consideration? Surely.
This ranking seems fairly obvious. MacDonald is currently riding a winning streak of one fight, but arguably holds more notable UFC wins than anyone on this list: Maia, Ellenberger, Penn, Nate Diaz, etc. His only loss in the past three years came via a split decision loss to the guy who just narrowly lost a title bid last weekend, so where else should he belong? We say match him up with Lombard next and have Dana White declare it a kinda-sorta-maybe #1 contender fight (a.k.a “not a #1 contender fight”) in a half-hearted attempt to generate interest. Fuck yeah, world domination!
Despite the fact that he shredded his opponents knee with a takedown/leg kick combo last weekend, Tyron Woodley might have had the worst luck of them all at UFC 171. His win over Condit has already been all but declared as a push in fan’s eyes — a freak accident on par with Anderson Silva’s leg break, to speak in forced comparisons — regardless of the fact that he was taking it to Condit in seven minutes prior.
That said, Woodley has now won three out of his past four fights, over Jay Hieron (heh), Josh Koscheck (in his second straight KO loss and third straight overall), and Carlos Condit via injury. Throw in Woodley’s relatively reserved persona and you don’t exactly end up with the ingredients for a monster pay-per-view. And that is perhaps the most important factor in these post-Sonnen vs. Jones times.
Again, this seems relatively simple. Lawler holds wins over the #3 guy (according to the recently-established mother of all welterweight rankings) and a former title challenger in Koscheck (his first to come by KO since 2009), and lost a fight with Hendricks that was essentially decided by one takedown in the final minute of the fifth round. Until someone proves us otherwise, Lawler is still the guy to beat at 170 lbs.
Does that mean he should receive an immediate rematch with Hendricks? God no. But matching Lawler up with Woodley next and giving the winner a title shot makes a ton of sense to us. As with Alexander Gustafsson vs. Jon Jones, pairing each fighter up with a worthy opponent instead of immediately rematching them gives the potential rematch some time to simmer (if all goes according to plan) while playing against the idea that the UFC has become a heartless, money-grubbing corporation that hands out title shots regardless of merit or even logical deduction. Everybody wins, you guys!
Tyron Woodley makes the most sense from a time-sensitive standpoint, yes, but there’s no need to rush the newly-crowned champion into another fight before he can even start to build his brand as champion. And in a welterweight division that is still relying on GSP and Nick Diaz to generate interest, Johny Hendricks is a good a star as any.
Of course, this can only mean that Lawler vs. Diaz II has already been booked with a title shot on the line, and we’ve simply yet to hear word of it. And to be completely honest, we’d watch that fight. We’d watch the sh*t out of it.
