UFC

Now that St. Pierre has had some time to reflect on things he has re-evaluated how interested he actually is in fighting Diaz, at least when it comes to an expected defense of his title in November.

“I want to fight the best man, and the best man is Condit,” said the 22-2 champion in an interview on Bruce Buffer‘s Sherdog show , adding emotion had clouded his judgment beforehand. Still, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t mind settling the score with Diaz at some point down the road.

“As far as Diaz, of course I would like to fight him because he thinks he’s better than me (and) I think I’m better than him,” explained St. Pierre before turning talk to the controversial Californian’s future. “But I think he should not retire. He did all of the sacrifice in his life to be where he’s at right now. He’s at the highest point of his career, and if he retires now, he’s left a lot of money on the table that could pay for all of the sacrifices he has made during all those years. I think the sport of mixed martial arts needs a guy like him.”

Diaz has not commented since saying he was retiring from MMA after his disgust with the judges’ decision in his fight with Condit. The 28-year old was the more aggressive, less technical of the two this past Saturday night and paid for it with the defeat.

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Diaz would go on to defeat Penn via Unanimous Decision and called out St. Pierre in a profanity laced attack claiming that GSP wasn’t really injured and instead was ducking a potential fight with him. At the UFC 137 post fight press conference White claimed that GSP was as angry as he had ever seen him and demanded his next fight be against the Stockton, CA resident as opposed to Condit. White also stated that Condit was okay with the situation and instead would face a yet to be named opponent at UFC 143 in the co-main event. As we would learn later on, Condit was not happy with the situation.

Of course, as luck would have it, GSP’s knee injury would turn out to be much more severe than anyone first thought and he would require surgery keeping him out until the fall of 2012. The natural thing to do for the UFC was to match-up Diaz and Condit which was scheduled for the main event of UFC 143 and would be for an interim title. The winner would then face “Rush” once he was healthy for the right to become the undisputed 170-pound champion.

The anticipation for Diaz-Condit was incredible as the UFC marketing machine was in full effect. White was telling anyone who would listen that this bout could be one of the best the UFC had ever seen. Based upon both fighters’ histories he wasn’t off as both men liked to stand and bang. They also brought a lot of intensity, toughness, and heart into every one of their fights. GSP felt uncomfortable rooting against the fellow Greg Jackson trained Condit, but still harbored a lot of ill will towards Diaz and made no secret of who he was pulling for.

The much anticipated tilt took place this past Saturday night and did not go anywhere near as well as planned. Condit fought a methodical, well-planned fight. He avoided Diaz’s pressure by keeping his feet moving at all times and landed a great deal of leg kicks and seemed to be ahead on the judges scorecards. When Bruce Buffer announced “The Natural Born Killer” as the winner it did not sit well with Diaz or his legion of fans who felt that Condit was awarded for avoiding Diaz at all costs and doing the bare minimum to take home the victory. As Joe Rogan interviewed Diaz after the fight he went into full tantrum mode and claimed he was done with MMA; that he no longer needed to be part of the sport.

It seems as though his threats and promises have worked to his advantage once again as word leaked out yesterday that Condit had not only agreed to, but asked for a rematch with Diaz before his scheduled bout with St. Pierre. Apparently Diaz was able to get under the skin of Condit in much the same way he did with GSP. The entire thing just goes to show you that self promotion is just as important as the fight you put on inside of the cage. The real story here is whether or not the UFC is hoping for a Diaz win so they can finally get the money bout everyone wanted in the first place, but has been canceled on two separate occasions – St. Pierre vs. Diaz.

Diaz lost the bout on all three judges’ scorecards. He won just one round on two of the judges’ cards and was awarded two rounds by the third judge. No one is arguing the fact that Condit fought a safe fight, but is there really a need for an immediate rematch based upon the outcome of the first fight? However, to be honest, this is the best call the UFC could make. Without trying to placate Diaz who seems to know how to push White’s buttons along with his opponents, if this fight doesn’t take place there is a potential nine-month gap between fights for Condit. If that is the case then what was the need to create the interim title in the first place if it was just going to be held up for nearly a year anyways?

The fight was close enough to get these two guys back in the cage as soon as possible. As we have learned in the past the judges aren’t always the most educated, responsible people in the arena at any given time. It’s certainly not fair to ask Condit to wait a minimum of nine months before GSP is ready to fight. This fight will kill three birds with one stone, it keeps Diaz happy, even if it means bowing down to his demands once again, it keeps Condit fresh and it gives more meaning to the interim title. For once the UFC is making the right call.

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Straying from the attitude causing a rift between Jon Jones-Rashad Evans, as well as the one seeing Evans refuse to face Keith Jardine a few years back, Sanchez spoke to The MMA Hour earlier this week where he said he’s already discussed such a scenario with “The Natural Born Killer”.

“We’ve all talked about this, the coaches, me and Carlos, we are absolutely fine fighting each other,” said the original Ultimate Fighter. “We both want UFC gold, that’s what we want for our family and have always wanted even as little kids, we have always wanted this. We are willing to do that.”

He also made it clear he wouldn’t pull any punches against Condit and would expect the same treatment in return, stating, “Me and Carlos would be a war; we both know our strengths and weaknesses and it would be a great fight. If it happens, it happens.”

Up next for “The Dream” is a February 15 date with top contender Jake Ellenberger in headlining action at UFC on Fuel 1. Comparably, Condit has been embroiled in the fallout from his hard-fought, albeit awfully close decision win over Nick Diaz this past Saturday night.

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While UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre has not come out to officially say he’d be willing to relinquish his rights to the title in order to fight polarizing rival Nick Diaz, it appears he has mentioned he’s open to doing so in private company.

The shocking revelation came Tuesday evening as part of UFC Tonight where host Kenny Florian, who is friends with GSP and trains with him at TriStar, said the currently injured St. Pierre brought it up over dinner after watching Carlos Condit outpoint Diaz last weekend at UFC 143.

Condit earned a shot at St. Pierre with the victory though it may be in vain if “Rush” follows through on his comments by giving up his belt to settle the score with Diaz. During the build up to the Diaz-Condit bout GSP expressed his desire to see Diaz win after the Stockton scrapper called him out after beating B.J. Penn in his previous Octagon appearance.

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Gracie, Diaz’s head trainer and manager, recently called Condit’s counter-pointing strategy into question after “The Natural Born Killer” avoiding engaging in the “dogfight” he’d implied he was up for during the weeks leading up to Saturday night’s scrap.

“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,” said Gracie on Monday in an interview with The MMA Show.

However, Gracie doesn’t fully fault Condit for taking the smarter, less aesthetically pleasing route instead of catering to the expectations of others, and actually blames the coaching staff at Greg Jackson’s gym for the gameplan.

“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. It’s another thing to turn your back and run from a fighter. That’s completely different,” said Gracie of Jackson’s approach to fighting. “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.”

The future of both Diaz and Condit appear a bit hazy at the moment, as Diaz said he was retiring after the loss and Condit is likely waiting 9-10 months for Georges St. Pierre to heal up from a knee injury rather than take another fight as his management implied he would prior to his closely-contested win over Diaz.

PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE/UFC

Last week it was reported by Condit’s management team that if he was to beat Diaz for the interim title he would likely stay active, defending the belt once before potentially facing GSP. However, Condit’s manager, Malki Kawa, changed his tune on those claims earlier today.

“At this point, (a rematch) is not something we’re looking to do,” said Kawa, in an interview with MMAFighting. “We’re looking for Georges. People forget, Carlos waited a long time to this get fight. I think clearly and decisively, he won the fight. All of the opinions that matter scored Carlos as winner.”

Diaz’s trainer/manager, Cesar Gracie, was a guest today on the MMA Hour, said in response to Kawa’s statements, “Of course they’re not interested in a rematch. They lost the first one.”

There was talk of an immediate rematch between Condit and Diaz taking place based on the bout being scored very closely, though that could have been difficult to work out as Diaz announced his retirement from MMA immediately after the fight.

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Diaz, who Condit outpointed last night at UFC 143 in the evening’s main event, was seen by numerous fans, fighters, and media members as having deserved the victory based on his aggression as opposed to Condit’s calculated counter-attack in the extremely close contest. While UFC President Dana White was not among them, stating he felt Condit deserved the judges’ favor, he apparently understands the argument against it and would be willing to put the fight together if both sides agree to terms.

“It’s crazy, but…I was thinking about it after the fight,” said White in an interview with MMAJunkie. “People are bitching, and people think that was close…we could do that fight again before GSP comes back.”

However, White isn’t ready to force Condit into an immediate rematch with Diaz nor does he know if Diaz has any interest in continuing his MMA career based on his post-fight statements about retirement.

“It depends on Carlos, too. Carlos has got to say – and Nick’s got to say, ‘I want to fight him again,’ too,” White explained.

Fighters facing off in back-to-back bouts is not without precedent, such as when Frankie Edgar and B.J. Penn squared off in consecutive clashes after “The Answer” barely beat Penn the first time around.

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Condit talked about his victory to the UFC cameras shortly after getting backstage, explaining, “This is just another step towards my ultimate goal of being among the best Mixed Martial Artists in the world. He was talking, I was landing punches. I think I was winning. No matter how much he talked, I was hitting him hard, I was hitting him solid, and that’s what I came here to do. I didn’t come to talk.”

As far as what’s next for the interim champion, Condit has no interest in resting on his laurels and recognizes his upcoming bout with Georges St. Pierre will require an even better performance than he turned in against the extraordinarily tough Diaz.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do and a lot more improvement to be made. Georges is a true champion and he’s the best in the world,” said Condit of the potential fight with GSP.

Check out the complete video below with other moments including Condit’s proud father glowing in the wake of his son’s success as well as a loving exchange between Condit and his wife:

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Diaz will enter the cage on an eleven-fight winning streak including a recent beatdown of B.J. Penn. The 28-year old has also only been legitimately stopped a single time in more than thirty fights, suffering a TKO in 2002 after having fought twice earlier in the evening as part of a tournament.

Condit acknowledged the challenge Diaz presents in a recent interview with the UFC’s website, saying he was up to the task and eager to see how things will unfold in the ring during their UFC 143 headliner.

“I think that styles make fights, and I think that this style match-up is going to be extremely exciting,” said an animated Condit. “It’s a very tough fight; Nick’s one of the best in the welterweight division. I think there are some guys stylistically that could probably beat him, but I think the matchup between us — we’re very evenly matched. We have similar skill sets, maybe a little bit different approach — different style — but it’s exciting.”

As far as how much he respects Diaz’s talents, the 27-5 Condit put him at the top of a long and talent-laden list.

“Nick is probably the toughest guy I’ve ever fought,” explained Condit. “He’s an endurance athlete — he puts tons and tons of pressure on guys — and he’s got some really good skills with his hands; his jiu-jitsu’s great. But I just really need to fight my fight. If I do that, I feel like I’m going to walk away with the belt.”

Catch their main event melee on PPV starting at 10:00 PM EST with prelims on FX/Facebook starting at 7:00 PM EST.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Condit opened up about the experience in an interview with the UFC promoting his fight with Diaz where he said, “I just had to kind of smile and shake my head. After everything that’s happened, all the ups and downs, honestly there wasn’t much else left to do but kind of laugh.”

“The past couple of months have been without a doubt one of the craziest periods of my career…definitely an emotional rollercoaster,” he concluded.

In terms of what he sees as being the biggest challenge he’ll face against Diaz, a former Strikeforce champ who is notoriously difficult to finish and is on an eleven-fight winning streak.

“Mostly I’m impressed by his toughness,” said Condit. “He’s got some great skills. Good boxing, good jiu-jitsu, but just his warrior spirit.”

Fans can catch the two of them tussle at 10:00 PM EST when the PPV starts with undercard action on FX/Facebook beginning at 7:00 PM EST.

Check out the complete interview below:

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Diaz and Condit spoke about their upcoming fight in an extended preview for the PPV where the “Natural Born Killer” made it clear he feels he has an advantage over Diaz in all areas, especially when it comes to striking.

“I feel like I’m a more technical fighter than Diaz,” Condit explained when asked about how he compared to the former Strikeforce title-holder. “I have more weapons in my arsenal. I just bring some different stuff to the table.”

“He can take a good shot but can he take knees? Is he going to be able to take elbows? It’s a different when it’s a shin across your face,” he continued.

Getting word of Condit’s statements, Diaz replied, “That’s a nice thought, right? Go out there and throw some kicks and some elbows, some knees, and win the fight. Can you get that stuff off when you’re running backwards?”

While the outcome may be in question there’s no doubt Condit-Diaz should deliver a “Fight of the Year” candidate when they clash in the cage. Condit has finished 26 of the 27 opponents he’s beaten while Diaz has racked up stoppages in 21 of 26 total victories.

Check out the complete preview below:

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

The unfortunate news was revealed earlier today by UFC President Dana White through his Twitter account. As a result Diaz will now face Carlos Condit on the same card – UFC 143 – with an interim belt at stake.

Condit was already scheduled to fight at the same event with Josh Koscheck as an opponent. He also saw Diaz slide into the contendership slot he’d already been promised after UFC 137, a fact likely adding a bit of incentive to shine against the controversial Californian when they meet inside the Octagon. Condit holds an overall record of 27-5 with twenty-six stoppages and is on a four-fight winning streak including victories over Dong Hyun Kim, Dan Hardy, Rory MacDonald, and Jake Ellenberger.

Diaz, a former Strikeforce champion, is coming off his finest performance to date when he dismantled BJ Penn in late October. The mean-mugged 28-year old hasn’t lost since 2007, picking up eleven straight wins in the period since.

No word has surfaced on what will be done with Koscheck.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Koscheck Tweeted that he has signed the bout agreement for the fight and posted a picture to offer proof.

Condit’s had a roller coaster ride in division over the past couple of months. Originally scheduled to fight B.J. Penn in the co-main event of UFC 137, Condit was moved to the main event against champion Georges St. Pierre in place of Nick Diaz, who remained on the card to fight Penn. Unfortunately for Condit, St. Pierre had to pull out of the fight with knee injury just a week before the event. UFC president Dana White contended that Condit would remain the next challenger for the belt, no matter the outcome of Diaz vs. Penn. The Stockton native went on to dominate the Hawaiian prodigy, winning a unanimous decision, at UFC 137 and after his victory accused St. Pierre of ducking him and faking an injury.

The comments upset the champion so much that he asked to fight Diaz instead of Condit in his next bout.

With GSP’s decision to take on a different opponent, that left Condit without a fight. Enter Koscheck. The Ultimate Fighter 1 alum was willing to step in for St. Pierre and fight Condit at UFC 137, but nothing ever came of Koscheck’s challenge. Now, with St. Pierre taking on Diaz on the same night, Koscheck will get his wish.

Both men are coming off first round Knockout of the Night victories, with Koscheck finishing Matt Hughes at UFC 135 and Condit blasting Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 132.

UFC 143 is scheduled for February 4 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Now, it appears Condit is destined for a date with former top contender Josh Koscheck at UFC 143 in February. The event should also feature St. Pierre’s title defense against Diaz. At last night’s UFC 138 post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White had the following to say on the subject:

“Right now, Carlos Condit wants to fight,” the UFC President explained. “He wants to fight on the same card as GSP and Diaz, so we’ll see what happens….It could be with Koscheck. Condit wanted that fight.”

Koscheck is coming off a first round knockout victory over UFC legend Matt Hughes last September in a fight he took on short notice following an extended layoff due to the injury he sustained in his defeat to St. Pierre last year.

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“Kos” made a plea to UFC President Dana White to replace an injured Georges St. Pierre when the UFC welterweight king was forced out of a planned fight with Condit last weekend. However, Condit decided to remain on the sidelines and wait for his crack at St. Pierre’s championship that ultimately never came.

Now that Condit has been passed over by Nick Diaz he will have to take another fight – and win it – before he can fight for the divisional belt. As such, Koscheck has stepped in once again, asking to meet Condit over Super Bowl Weekend when Diaz-GSP takes place.

“Just thinking! That dude (Condit) should of took the fight with me on a week notice (because) if he HAD a chance to make it a close fight, it was then. NOW zero chance,” Koscheck wrote. “Just for the record, I’ll be ready to fight again by Feb. 4:) Training for (blank)????”

The 16-5 Koscheck defeated Matt Hughes at UFC 135 earlier this year in his return to action since falling to St. Pierre. Koscheck suffered a broken orbital bone in the loss to GSP and was forced to sit on the sidelines for an extended period to recover. The curly-coiffed Californian can lay claim to a number of solid wins in the UFC including past victories over Diego Sanchez, Anthony Johnson, Chris Lytle, and Paul Daley.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

For those out of the loops, Condit was originally scheduled to face GSP this past weekend at UFC 137 before the French-Canadian title-holder went down with a knee injury. Though told he would maintain his top contendership regardless of what unfolded between Diaz and opponent B.J. Penn at the same show, Diaz lit a fire under “Rush” by questioning his manhood and honesty about being hurt, thus earning the crack at St. Pierre’s belt and leaving Condit on the backburner.

Condit has yet to say anything to the public, but his manager, Malki Kawa, sent a message to MMAWeekly saying, “We didn’t step aside. That’s not what we do. GSP doesn’t want to fight Carlos.”

It would seem by those comments that Condit is trying to play the Diaz approach and show disrespect towards St-Pierre. However, it is too little, too late for anything to change – assuming Diaz plays the media darling the UFC wants in the lead-up to the title bout.

St-Pierre said before his fight with Condit was scrapped due to a knee injury that the two were not friends and that he would finish “The Natural Born Killer” when they locked up. GSP normally tends to be very respectful towards his opponents and not make comments like that, so there does seem to be some bad blood brewing there.

The UFC, though, cannot afford to miss out on the opportunity to put St-Pierre and Diaz in the Octagon together, especially after the war or words the two exchanged immediately following UFC 137. This is a super fight between two very different men and the UFC Primetime specials alone should be PPV worthy to hear what each has to say about his opponent.

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Now that the bout has been scrapped due to a knee injury suffered by GSP, the UFC’s welterweight champion, those working with Condit have more time to prepare and plan for St-Pierre.

Condit has said that he will wait for a healthy St-Pierre before stepping back inside the Octagon, not risking his No. 1 contender spot in the meantime. “The Natural Born Killer’s” coach, Mike Winkeljohn, talked with Sherdog Radio this past week about the yet-to-be-announced bout.

“We had a game plan. We felt good with it, but Chris Luttrell and I were talking about some things we’d like to see Carlos do, but we figured it was too late to even try to implement those things,” Winkeljohn said. “In a way, now we can come up with a couple of more things to put us in a couple of better positions for this fight. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.”

Winkeljohn felt like Condit was in the right place mentally to challenge “Rush”, but added that he wants to face the best GSP possible to prove his worth.

The coach added that, while he works alongside St. Pierre at Jackson’s MMA, he has only held mitts for GSP in practice on a few occasions and is embracing the chance to coach against the prized fighter.

“I’m excited about having Carlos fight him,” Winkeljohn said. “It’s kind of neat to game plan against his other coaches up there in Canada. It’s kind of an honor, and we’re excited about doing it.”

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

UFC

St. Pierre, considered to be one of MMA’s pound-for-pound greats, is one of the few competitors who blend every aspect of the sport together seamlessly. A tremendous grappler with diverse stand-up and never-ending cardio, GSP hasn’t been beaten in more than four-and-a-half years while picking up wins over a number of highly-respected peers like B.J. Penn, Matt Hughes, Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, and most recently Jake Shields.

Condit understands the significant task at hand, a point he drove home in a recent interview with the UFC relating to his October 29 headliner against the popular French-Canadian at UFC 137.

“Georges is very hard to gameplan against. He’s as dynamic and well-rounded as they come. He’s a very, very tough puzzle to solve,” Condit explained before making it clear he’s no slouch either. “I’m hard to fight. No matter what position we’re in I make you very uncomfortable. I try to not only beat you down physically but break you mentally.”

You can catch the full segment by checking out the video below:

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

The 26-5 Condit has been out of action since October after injuring his knee in preparation for a February match-up with Chris Lytle but had emerged with his hands raised three consecutive bouts prior to the layoff including a memorable first round knockout of Dan Hardy at UFC 120. He has won eleven of his last twelve fights with the lone exception being a Split Decision to Martin Kampmann and also has the impressive distinction of having finished twenty-five of the twenty-six opponents he’s beaten.

The remarkable statistic should be put to the test against “Stun Gun” who has yet to lose in his career with a 14-0-1 record. The popular Korean is coming off an outpointing of Nate Diaz at UFC 125 and also holds past victories over Matt Brown and Amir Sadollah.

UFC 132 is scheduled for July 2 in Las Vegas and will be headlined by a bantamweight title bout between current champ Dominick Cruz and fan-favorite Urijah Faber. Other scheduled fights likely on the main card include George Sotiropoulos vs. Evan Dunham, Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader, and Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben.

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Sportsnet.ca was the first to report the news of Condit’s withdrawal.

Condit won his third UFC fight in a row at UFC 120 last October when he knocked out former top contener Dan Hardy in the first round with a left hook, scoring him knockout of the night honors. Lytle is also on a hot streak, winning four in a row, most recently picking up a unanimous decision victory over former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Serra.

UFC 127 is headlined by welterweights BJ Penn and Jon Fitch doing battle in the main event with middleweights Michael Bisping and Jorge Rivera clashing in the co-main event. The event is scheduled for February 27, 2010 from the ACER Arena in Sydney, Australia.