Las Vegas--When the dust had settled on the main event at UFC 143, something was missing. It wasn’t that it hadn’t been a good fight—it had been a great fight. But something was off. Leaning over I asked a colleague, “Why wasn’t this fight everything we thought it was going to be?” He looked at me and replied, “Carlos Condit fought with the perfect game plan.”
And that’s the truth. On Saturday night, as Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz locked horns for the UFC Interim Welterweight Champion of the world, fans and pundits alike were given the blueprint on how to defeat Stockton’s favorite son.
With a pressuring Diaz in his face throughout the fight, Condit remained calm and poised under pressure. He never let Diaz’ smack talk, or his in-ring antics to affect him. But most importantly Condit circled away from Diaz throughout, using lateral movement and great footwork to ensure that he would not be caught with his back to the cage.
Rounds one and two saw Diaz implement his usual volume punching game plan. He stuck his jab in Condit’s face and walked him down throughout the frame(s). By the end of the second round, however, the tide began to change. Condit’s patience had paid off.
Throughout the first few rounds, Diaz taunted Condit relentlessly hoping for him to wildly engage, but Condit remained calm. By the third, Condit was tagging Diaz with powerful shots and was seemingly confusing his opponent with effective striking.
Condit moved on to the fourth round and found even more success as he battered Diaz in to utter confusion for most of the round. As Diaz pressured Condit, he looked to land the bigger shots, but the fact remains Condit wasn’t there to hit. Condit used perfect lateral movement as he backed away from Diaz and circled away from the cage, never letting himself fall into danger.
The fifth round, for most cage-side, was the deciding factor in the fight. By this time, I had the fight scored two rounds a piece, and it was all up for grabs as we closed in on the 25th minute.
As both fighters exchanged early on through the round, Condit was seemingly getting the better shots off, but it was close—razor close. With just over a minute left in the fifth and final round, Diaz secured a takedown and took Condit’s back. For what seemed like eternity, Diaz looked to sink in a rear-naked choke. As the seconds ticked down, Diaz ran out of time and was unable to finish the fight. However, on my card he had done enough to win the round.
The definition of ’Octagon control’ differs among experts. Does the fighter pushing the pace get rewarded? Or does the fighter who uses lateral movement and counter-punching to control the action get the scoring advantage?
To some cage-side, myself included, Diaz did enough to win the fifth round. Those final 90-seconds when Diaz had Condit’s back and was looking for the submission were enough to win him the frame. Yes, Condit had the advantage during the first 3:30 of the round, but it wasn’t by much. So it really came down to those final controlling moments as Diaz finished the fight.
Here’s the thing though, that final frame didn’t really matter, as two ringside judges had it 4 rounds for Carlos Condit. Listen, I’m not saying Carlos Condit didn’t win Saturday, he arguably could have. But in no way was that fight four rounds for anyone.
Patricia Morse-Jarmon and Cecil Peoples were the two judges who scored the fight 4-1 Carlos Condit. Both Morse-Jarmon and Peoples come from a boxing lineage. To boot, they have both been mired in scoring controversy before. Almost everyone ringside unanimously agreed, if they didn’t have it 3-2 Diaz, they could see a 3-2 Condit score. But absolutely no one could understand 4-1 on two judges’ scorecards--including Nick Diaz.
“I’m not going to accept the fact that this was a loss. That ain’t right. I pushed him back the whole fight. I walked him down. I got the takedown. I won on top. Carlos is a great guy, I’m happy for him and his family,” said a contrite Diaz in his post-fight speech.
As calm and as contrite as Diaz was, the anger inside the Californian was obvious. He was beaten, dejected, and most of all, tired, “I don’t need this shit. I pushed this guy backwards the whole time. He ran from me the whole fight. I landed the harder shots. He ran the whole time. He kicked me in my leg with little baby leg kicks the whole fight. That’s the way they understand how to win here, I don’t want to play this game no more.”
Diaz went on further,” I think I’m done with this MMA, it’s been great out here, I’ve had a good career, you guys pay me way too much, but I don’t think I’m going to keep going in this. It’s been a good time. Good job Carlos, you’re the man bro,” said Diaz.
Whether or not Diaz actually retires remains to be seen. But, Diaz is notorious for his emotional nature and his pension for overreacting, so one shouldn’t think too much of the previous statement.
For “The Natural Born Killer” his game plan was paramount to his victory, and he made sure to make the point that the admiration for his opponent was mutual, “A lot of my other fights I kind of came out strong towards the later rounds, when it went to later rounds, and I started to find my flow,” Condit said. “Hats off to Nick Diaz, he’s a warrior. [I have]Nothing but admiration and respect for how he fights.”
Next up for Condit is a unification bout with the sidelined Georges St-Pierre. For Condit, this is a fight he’s been waiting for, “It’s an honor, Georges is a guy that I’ve looked up to since I was a young guy before I was in the UFC. And it’s an honor to compete on this stage with guys like Nick Diaz--with guys like Georges St-Pierre. That’s all I can say. I’m completely honored.”
Most likely the conversation regarding UFC 143 will always revolve around the scoring of the fight between these two warriors. And that's OK.
The important thing to remember, however, is that Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit put on one of the best welterweight title fights in years. In reality, should we be surprised? Both Condit and Diaz have made a career of having exciting, fan-friendly brawls for our viewing enjoyment. And with Saturday's title fight, there is no doubting that the welterweight division just got a whole lot more 'exciting.'
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