Condit upsets Diaz for UFC interim welter title

Octagonside by Anthony Springer Jr.
Photo by Nick Laham/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 

As the adage goes in team sports, “defense wins championships.”

That now holds true for MMA.

Using a defensive strategy and varied striking, Carlos Condit defeated Nick Diaz to snare the UFC interim welterweight championship to set up a meeting with UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

The opening round set the stages for a vintage Diaz performance. The former Strikeforce champion walked Condit down from the start to finish. Condit was cracked with several hard straight right and lefts and scampered away from the rangy Stockton fighter.

Round two was more of the same, Diaz increasing the pressure, landing a combo here and there.

“The Natural Born Killer” came alive in the final three rounds.

Condit found the range in the third round. He blasted Diaz with a left hand. Later in the round, a series of body shots found a home on Diaz’ mid-section.

The former WEC welterweight champion landed a beautiful head kick in the fourth stanza. After a hard punch and another head kick, Diaz attempted—and failed—to tie Condit up.
With the action seemingly tied up going into the fifth, it was the Jackson’s MMA fighter who again rose to the occasion. As Diaz appeared to slow, the results of repeated leg kicks throughout the bout, Condit turned on the gas. Condit landed the harder shots throughout the round but nearly saw it all slip away. A mere 80 seconds left, Diaz managed to take Condit’s back and drag the fight to the mat. Diaz’ rear naked choke attempt with 20 seconds left fell short and Condit reversed and gained top position as time expired.

The judges scored the contest 49-46, 49-46, and 48-47 for Condit. A frustrated Diaz threatened retirement following the disappointing loss. “I don’t need this shit!” he exclaimed.

St-Pierre, who openly expressed a preference to fight Diaz, was visibly disappointed as well.

Werdum showcases improved standup, routes Nelson

Fabricio Werdum‘s return to the UFC was an impressive one as he showcased a remarkable improvement in his standup to earn a unanimous decision victory over the durable Roy Nelson. Since departing after being brutally knocked out by current UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos, Werdum had a solid career in Strikeforce highlighted by his submission victory over Fedor Emelianenko. On this night, Werdum put on a virtual clinic as he drilled Nelson with knees from the Thai plum and gave Nelson very little to operate with. The first round saw Werdum ransack the face of Big Country with a plethora of knees that split Nelson on the forehead and oozed a crimson river down his face. As always, Nelson took the punishment like a champ and kept coming. A right hand dropped Werdum in the first round and brought the largely pro-Nelson crowd to their feet. But it quickly became apparent that the Brazilian was playing possum in similar fashion to his big victory over Fedor as he nearly sank in a triangle as Nelson followed him to the ground. The second and third rounds saw much of the same from Werdum as he whipped the TUF 10 winner with combinations and never allowed Nelson to uncork that big right hand. In the end, judges all saw it in Werdum’s favor 30-27 and it certainly put him in the mix for a heavyweight title shot.

Koscheck narrowly edges Pierce

It wasn’t exactly what Josh Koscheck promised, but he ended up winning a split decision victory over Mike Pierce in a welterweight fight that puts him closer to a title shot. Koscheck anticipated knocking out Pierce but the Portland, OR fighter was having none of it. In the opening round Pierce demonstrated an effective jab that was eerily reminiscent of the one Georges St-Pierre used to starch the blonde haired wrestler for three rounds in their championship fight. Koscheck was never able to find his rhythm in the standup and opted to secure a takedown late in the second and in the third round to offset his inability to get anything going in the standup. The crowd let Koscheck have it with “Koscheck Sucks” chants but despite all of that, Kos walked away with the split decision with scores of 29-28 once for Pierce and twice for Koscheck. The crowd lustfully booed the decision but in the end, Kos pulls it out with scores of 29-28 twice while one judge had it 29-28 in favor of Pierce.

Barao outclasses Jorgensen

With more than 25 consecutive victories to his name, if Renan Barao needed a signature win he got one with a unanimous decision victory over former bantamweight number one contenderScott Jorgensen. “Young Guns” shot blanks from the opening round and was outclassed on the feet by the Brazilian. Everything Barao seemed to throw was a home run. Barao hit Jorgensen with flying knees, round house kicks and repeatedly backed him up with jabs. When all else failed, Jorgensen was also unsuccessful with takedowns and was taken down himself. All three judges scored it 30-27.

Herman taps Starks

In the opening bout of the pay per view, Ed Herman scored a second round submission victory over Clifford Starks. After eating a number of right hands from the heavy handed Starks in the first round, Herman decided to take the fight to the ground and secured a takedown in the second frame. It wouldn’t take long for Starks to give up his back which allowed Herman to slip his arm underneath Starks’ chin. Although Starks would struggle to survive, the end was elementary as Starks tapped out at the 1:43 mark.

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For more info on the UFC or UFC 143, visit www.UFC.com

February 5th, 2012

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