"On February 4th, two Welterweight warriors battle for the interim UFC Welterweight Championship, as Nick Diaz fights Carlos Condit. Also, Heavyweights Roy "Big Country" Nelson and Fabricio Werdum collide and Josh Koscheck faces Mike Pierce."
Saturday February 4th 2012, the UFC returns to action for UFC 143 live from Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event of the card features two of the world’s top Welterweights as former Strikeforce Champion Nick Diaz (26-7-1NC) and former WEC Champion Carlos Condit (27-5), fight for the UFC interim Welterweight Championship.
Originally division champion Georges St. Pierre was supposed to fight Diaz, but due to sustaining an ACL injury to his left knee while preparing for the bout, he had to pull out of the contest. Because of the injury, St. Pierre will be unable to defend his title in a year span, thus meaning an Interim belt must be created during his time away from action. It also means that for the first time since 2006, St. Pierre will not be in the UFC Welterweight Championship picture.
In his place, will be former WEC Champion Carlos Condit who is on a four fight winning streak, since his UFC debut split decision loss to Martin Kampmann in April of 2009.
Since that time, Condit has defeated top prospects Jake Ellenberger and Rory McDonald, while also posting back to back Knockout of the Night finishes over Dan Hardy and Dong Hyun Kim. An aggressive fighter who lives up to his “Natural Born Killer” moniker, Condit pushes the pace and is always looking for a finish.
Diverse in his approach to fighting, Condit is comfortable in all areas of martial arts but is particularly a striker and a jiu-jitsu fighter, with 13 submission victories and 13 knockout victories to his credit. Possessing vicious knees and one punch knockout power, any opponent has to be careful when striking with Condit, but should the fight hit the ground, Condit is just as dangerous and quite different from most jiu-jitsu practitioners.
On the mat, Condit utilizes a chaotic approach instead of the normal controlled based jiu-jitsu attack. This hectic style, is not usually seen by most fighters and causes his opponents to make mistakes where they normally wouldn’t, thus creating space for Condit to capitalize and submit his opponent. However, Condit is going to have his work cut out for him Saturday night, when he faces one of the pound for pound most dangerous and technically gifted fighters on the planet in Nick Diaz.
Diaz, a native of Stockton California, has been unbeaten for four plus years, and is not only one of the best martial artists alive, but also one of the sport’s most intriguing competitors.
A black belt in jiu-jitsu under Cesar Gracie, the last place any fighter wants to end up is on the ground with Nick Diaz. Incredibly flexible and one of the best in terms of transitions, Diaz is capable of submitting any man alive in multiple ways. One of Diaz’ most impressive submissions occurred in February 2007, when Diaz became one of the first competitors to successfully pull off a Gogoplata submission, when he defeated Pride Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi.
Although his ground game is outstanding, Diaz’ boxing is just as phenomenal and might possibly be the best in MMA. Extremely unorthodox, Diaz puts together punches in bunches and repeatedly batters his opponents with nonstop strikes which land from every angle.
Labeled by UFC commentator Mike Goldberg as the ‘Stockton Slap’, Diaz’ strikes don’t look to be powerful, but due to the pressure he constantly applies and the sheer volume in which he throws and lands his punches, his opponents wilt under the pressure and tire out, setting them up for the finish.
Training with 2004 Olympic Boxing Gold Medalist, Super Six World Boxing Classic Champion and the 2011 BWAA Fighter of the Year undefeated Andre Ward, Diaz shows just how great his striking is in every fight. His last contest a unanimous decision victory over BJ Penn this past October, showed just how highly skilled Diaz is, as we have never seen a fighter cause that much damage to Penn on the feet.
Another reason Diaz is so dangerous is because of his endurance. Diaz is able to fight the way he fights, never taking his foot off the pedal, because he never runs out of gas. A side from being a professional MMA fighter, Diaz is also a triathlete and regularly competes in Ironman triathlon events, during the course of his training. This gives him a distinct advantage of always being fresh and continuously able to keep pressure on his opponents from the opening bell to the final bell. A true fighter, Diaz will fight anybody at any time and has fought in multiple weight classes and emerged victorious. Also, Diaz does not fight for points or to win contests on the judge’s scorecards. Diaz will throw his hands up, instigate his opponent in the cage by talking smack and is always moving forward, he also holds a very distinct honor of never being submitted and has only been stopped via strikes once early in his career.
I predict, Diaz to keep this streak alive Saturday, as he becomes the new UFC interim Welterweight Champion, setting himself up on a date with Georges St. Pierre sometime later this year around November.
As with every Diaz fight before, I think the pressure will be too much for Condit to handle and he will fold and tire out due to Diaz’ constant attack. Although, I’m sure Condit will be in the best shape of his life, I do not think it will be enough to withstand Diaz and predict that Condit’s cardio will be completely zapped around the third or fourth round and for Diaz to finish him whether by TKO or submission.
This is one of the biggest fights the UFC has put on in quite some time and I am very much looking forward to it. Diaz is without a doubt, my favorite fighter to watch because he always brings it and is always entertaining and I look forward to seeing UFC gold around his waist.
It is also my belief, that Diaz is the only Welterweight fighter on the planet who could realistically defeat Georges St. Pierre and I hope Diaz wins to ensure that dream matchup becomes a reality. Predictions:
Nick Diaz defeats Carlos Condit via TKO 4th Round to become the NEW UFC interim Welterweight Champion
Roy Nelson defeats Fabricio Werdum via unanimous decisionJosh Koscheck defeats Mike Pierce via 2nd Round KO
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