...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Carlos Condit is getting ready to plug himself back into the welterweight mix on Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 67, returning for the first time since he blew out his knee against Tyron Woodley last year.
"The Natural Born Killer" meets another former title contender in Thiago Alves, who himself is trying to find a resurgent run in the division. Condit's willing to give Alves credit for his skills into the matchup, but believes he knows what he'll have to do in order to combat those attacks.
"He's a phenomenal fighter, he's good everywhere," Condit said on Wednesday in an interview with UFC Tonight on Fox Sports 1. "My key to victory is to push the pace, get in there, grind him, get him tired and then I can walk away with the victory.
"I have to be aware of [his kicks] whether my knee was injured or not. I don't want to take those kicks. I have to stay mobile and be well prepared with my game plan."
A win could bring him right back into the conversation at the top end of the division, but Condit believes he's potentially a few wins away from another shot at the belt. However, with a win over the next contender, Rory MacDonald, he thinks that could work in his favor should the title change hands at UFC 189.
"I think it depends on the fight between Rory MacDonald and Robbie Lawler," Condit said of a title shot. "Rory's been inching to get a shot at me for a while. I may be two or three fights away. I'm picking Rory this time. I think he's learned from that first fight, he'll open up a little bit and not be so conservative and walk with the belt."
Penick's Analysis: If MacDonald takes the title from Lawler in their rematch, it opens up a ton of options for the UFC in the welterweight division. Johny Hendricks is still in there, Tyron Woodley wants his shot, a third fight between Lawler and MacDonald could be in order; there are many ways they can go from there. Condit's going to need to win that two or three fights in a row to be in the mix regardless of who is holding that title, just because there are a number of others in that mix with better claims right now. He needs to stay healthy, stay busy, and win a few fights, and he'll be right back there, but it starts Saturday, and he needs a good showing against Alves.
[Carlos Condit art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.