- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
This weekend at UFC 143 the welterweight division will be launched into uncharted waters. For the first time in four years, there will be a welterweight champion who isn’t called Georges St-Pierre.
For many new and die-hard fans it will be the first welterweight title fight they have ever seen without GSP or Matt Hughes headlining the show.
Indeed, Calos Condit v Nick Diaz is the first title fight in over 10 years not to feature either one of these utterly dominate champions.
And for many it is a good thing.
Dominate champions are one thing but this may be the first interesting championship fight at 170 pounds since St-Pierre took over as top dog four long years ago. GSP may have been the perfect fighter but he was far from the perfect entertainer.
Diaz and Condit bring in games with wide open holes but resumes full of entertaining fights.
In one corner is a man who calls himself the ‘Natural Born Killer’ and in the other is the most obviously unhinged personality in all of MMA.
Anyone who has watched the brilliant UFC Primetime specials on this fight will understand. Both of these men are aggressive martial artists who revel in the most brutal of battles.
Yes, it is safe to say that this weekend, there will be blood.
That isn’t to say they are cavemen; far from it. Condit has a young family, is building his first home and his father works for a politician. With short, well trimmed hair and a clean cut look, the former WEC Champion seems more like a white collar office worker than an MMA fighter.
Nick Diaz on the other hand is slightly more unorthodox. He has the look of a boy who never learnt how to be a man; he fidgets, changes topic mid-sentence and doesn’t look you straight in the eye. He is known for getting himself into trouble outside the ring and has been suspended more than once for post-fight brawls.
Diaz doesn’t need a nasty nickname; everyone knows he is crazy anyway.
However, he still demands a special kind of respect, he and his brother (UFC lightweight Nate Diaz) still live in their hometown of Stockton, California, a bankrupt town most have deserted. He was recently nominated for Stocktonian of the Year.
Diaz is a guy who knows MMA is his one shot and he is giving it everything.
His training regime is unmatched in MMA. Not only does he practice martial arts, training full time, when he has a few minutes to spare he slaps on goggles, a bike or joggers and prepares for triathlons.
These two come to the cage from very different places but when the bell rings all that will be swept aside as both will charge at each other for what will surely be a memorable battle.
On his feet Diaz brings a high octane, aggressive boxing strategy. Condit walks up with an equally aggressive but more well rounded Muay-Thai style. From Diaz expect a constant flurry of punches and lots of movement.
From the other side you will see ‘The Art of Eight Limbs’: calculated kicks, knees, punches and elbows. Search for Condit’s brutal one punch knockout of Dan Hardy or his flying knee KO of Dong Hyum Kim; he may not look as crazy as Diaz but The Natural Born Killer is as lethal as anyone on his feet.
It is unlikely this fight will head to the ground for anything other than the final seconds of the fight. Both men are well rounded fighters but neither has ever looked totally confident on the floor.
While he may hold a purple belt in jujitsu, Condit is especially vulnerable. At UFC 115 Condit was outwrestled for two rounds by 21-year-old Rory McDonald and escaped with a last second TKO. If he has a weakness it is there for all to see.
Not that Diaz is likely to take advantage of that. He may have a string of submission victories but they have largely come against strikers worn down by Diaz’s overwhelming stand-up ability not due to on the mat dominance. Diaz just keeps coming. His punches are accurate. He is relentless and doesn’t tire.
While the UFC has never taken sides, from a business point of view, Diaz is the man at 170. If Diaz wins this weekend a matchup between this seemingly unhinged anti-hero and the clean cut St-Pierre could be the biggest fight this year.
Condit would prove a great adversary for the champ to overcome on his return, but nothing can beat the tried and tested good guy v bad guy formula.
For whoever comes out of the five rounds on top, the shadow of the ‘true champ’ looms but the division will better for the new champion’s presence. Welterweight is in need of some fresh air at the top and this fight may just be the thing to provide it.
Let’s get ready to rumble! Pick a fighter and place your bets with PlayUp for great odds. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.