...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
When Carlos Condit was the champion of the WEC's welterweight division, fans and writers alike questioned whether he was legitimately a top ten fighter when he was outside of the UFC's shark tank at 170 lbs.
In London on Saturday, Condit finally established himself in the top five of the division when he knocked out Dan Hardy at UFC 120.
The win was Condit's third straight in the UFC, and arguably the largest win of his career. Hardy came into this fight with a massive home country crowd behind him at the O2 Arena in London, and looking to bounce back from a loss to Georges St. Pierre in his first title shot back in March.
Both fighters landed strikes in combination back and forth through the opening minutes of the fight. Neither seemed to be gaining much of an edge in the striking department, as they were each landing punches and kicks throughout the round.
But late in the round, both came in with a fury, and Condit landed a hook that sent Hardy crashing to the ground. Two punches followed from Condit that put Hardy out cold.
When asked what went wrong in the fight by Joe Rogan afterward, Hardy answered simply, "I got punched in the face." Indeed he did, and with that punch, Carlos Condit pushed himself into the title picture in the welterweight division.
Penick's Analysis: If Jake Shields gets past Martin Kampmann next week at UFC 121, he's likely to get a title shot against Georges St. Pierre (or Josh Koscheck if the AKA product can pull off the upset in Montreal). If that's the case, a fight between Condit and Jon Fitch makes a ton of sense, and would give Condit a chance to truly earn a shot at the one Welterweight Championship that means you're at the top of the division in the sport. You can't be anything but thoroughly impressed by Carlos Condit at this point, and he's one judges' scorecard away from a 4-0 record in the Octagon.
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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