UFC
UFC 143 Results: Carlos Condit captures Interim Welterweight Championship in decision over Nick Diaz
Feb 5, 2012 - 9:00:28 AM UFC 143 Results: Carlos Condit captures Interim Welterweight Championship in decision over Nick Diaz

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Carlos Condit executed a very good gameplan against Nick Diaz on Saturday night at UFC 143, capturing the Interim UFC Welterweight Championship with by unanimous decision in a hard fought five-round bout.

Condit employed a smart strategy of circling away from Diaz and counter-striking, and as the fight wore on he began increasing his output, landing combinations as Diaz got in close and circling away from Diaz's counters. The strategy had Diaz so off base that by the fifth and final round he went away from his striking game and tried to pull Condit into a ground battle.

Diaz was so off his game that he landed just 110 strikes overall in a five round fight. His offense was completely neutralized by Condit's gameplan, and he wasn't able to overwhelm him the way he had many of his previous opponents. Condit's performance has already been derided by some as "running away" the whole fight, but he refused to do what many others had done in simply standing there allowing Diaz to hit them.

Ultimately, Condit took rounds 1, 3, and 4, with two judges also giving him round 2. The win sets him up for a fight with Georges St-Pierre later this year to unify the Welterweight Championships.

Penick's Analysis: There's going to be a lot of debate, controversy, and vitriol spewing over the next several days over this fight, but Condit absolutely had more than a case for round one, a case for round two, and he took rounds three and four clearly in my book. Simply moving forward in a fight doesn't mean you're winning, and Condit was the one throwing strikes and avoiding Diaz's counters. He also didn't let himself get boxed into a corner by Diaz, so he wasn't getting lit up throughout the fight like many of Diaz's other opponents. Plain and simple, Diaz didn't do nearly enough to make that a victory for himself, while Condit provided more offensive output and neutralized him. That's a win for Condit, and a deserved one at that.

[Carlos Condit art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]