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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
UFC welterweight Tyron Woodley hounded UFC President Dana White for a shot at top contender Carlos Condit, but White last week said he was just a bit too far down the ladder to be plugged in there. However, his persistence paid off, as the UFC announced that fight for UFC 171 on Tuesday.
Condit was in need of an opponent after Matt Brown suffered an injury to take him out of UFC on Fox 9. Then, when the UFC booked Johny Hendricks against Robbie Lawler at UFC 171 for the Vacant Welterweight Championship, and a fight with Nick Diaz didn't come together, Condit once again just needed an opponent.
That opponent will be Woodley, who will enter off a knockout win over Josh Koscheck at UFC 167. He's got two vicious knockouts in his UFC run this year sandwiching a tough decision loss to Jake Shields, and he'll try to plug himself into the UFC's newly opened up title picture with an upset win.
For Condit, this fight represents an opportunity to get past the issue that has plagued him in his MMA career. He's been beaten by fighters in the past who can take him down and force him off of his striking game, and if Woodley works his wrestling game in, he can represent that.
However, Condit is one of the division's best strikers, and is capable of beating fighters on the ground with his submission game as well.
UFC 171 takes place on March 15 from Dallas, Texas, and will air live on pay-per-view.
Penick's Analysis: This is a real interesting and potentially dangerous fight for Condit. Given it's only a three round matchup, he's going to have to implement his game right off the bat, and not allow Woodley to dictate the pace and put him on the ground like a number of fighters have in the past.
[Carlos Condit art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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