By Kelsey Mowatt Carlos Condit arrived in the UFC last year with a lot of fanfare, largely due to the fact that the veteran fighter had owned the WEC welterweight division while it existed, going 5-0 in his reign as the promotion’s 170lb. champion. In his first three Octagon outings Condit wasn’t the dominant force he had been in the WEC, losing by split decision to Martin Kampmann, only to then earn hard fought victories over Jake Ellenberger and Rory MacDonald. Perhaps this is why Condit was quick to concede at last night’s post-fight UFC 120 press conference, that his impressive KO win over Dan Hardy, was extremely important for the 26-5 fighter.
“This is definitely the biggest fight of my career,” Condit said afterwards. “Fighting on the co-main; fighting Dan pretty much in his backyard, and at the O2 Arena, this is the biggest win of my career so far.”
Heading into the bout the outspoken Hardy publicly criticized Condit’s head coach Greg Jackson, for implementing game plans, which according to the British fighter are conservative in nature. It was clear from the opening bell last night; however, that Condit was looking to be the aggressor.
“I think it helped immensely,” said Condit when asked about what Jackson contributed to the victory. “I’m obviously not the same fighter and I don’t have the same style or attributes that GSP (Georges St. Pierre) does, so we had a different approach to the fight. Having a coach who just recently trained a guy to fight Dan was definitely beneficial.”
It will be interesting to see where the win over Hardy leaves Condit in the welterweight division, and who the UFC elects to match him up next. With his current Octagon record sitting at 3-1, another notable win could leave Condit within striking distance of a title shot.
“I’m definitely looking forward to seeing who wins that fight between Kampmann and (Jake) Shields,” said Condit, when asked for his thoughts on the upcoming match-up. “I’ve fought both those guys, have decisions to both of them, and I would like to maybe get one of those losses back. As far as GSP being a teammate over at Jackson’s; we haven’t really discussed it very much. I think it would it be foolish of me to turn down an opportunity like that, but, I guess we’ll just have to discuss that when we get to that juncture.”
The last comment regarding his willingness to fight St. Pierre, drew the applause of UFC President Dana White, who frowns upon fighters refusing to fight their teammates. While Condit could be a win or two from competing for the title, the possibility of fighting his teammate St. Pierre is likely not a pressing concern, when one considers others like Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, and probably Shields if he wins next weekend, are next in line.
