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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
With his knockout victory over Dan Hardy at UFC 120 in London on Saturday, Carlos Condit entrenched himself into the title picture in the UFC's welterweight division.
For Condit, he hopes the next step towards that title opportunity is a fight against the winner of next week's big clash between Jake Shields and Martin Kampmann at UFC 121.
"I'm definitely looking forward to seeing who wins that fight between Kampmann and Shields," Condit said at the post-event press conference on Saturday. I've fought both of those guys, and had decision [losses] to both of them. I'd like to maybe get one of those losses back."
Condit lost to Shields in the finals of a Rumble on the Rock welterweight tournament in Hawaii in 2006. He reached the finals after dispatching of Renato Verissimo and Frank Trigg in quick fashion, but Shields handed him what was, at the time, only his third career loss.
He then faced Kampmann in his UFC debut in 2009, dropping a split decision that snapped an eight fight win streak. But it was an extremely close fight in which Condit made a case for winning it himself.
Should he get that fight, or a fight against another top contender, a fourth straight UFC win could set him up for a title shot. If that comes to pass, he'll be in a situation possibly to face off against Greg Jackson teammate Georges St. Pierre. Much to the delight of UFC President Dana White, Condit said it would be something he couldn't turn down.
"As far as GSP being a teammate over at Jackson's, we haven't really discussed it very much," Condit said. "But I think it would be foolish of me to turn down an opportunity like that."
To that Dana White applauded, and commented "I'm tired of guys that don't want to fight each other."
Penick's Analysis: After next week's Shields-Kampmann fight plays out, I think Condit will find himself in the top five in the welterweight rankings to start November. If Shields wins, I think he'll get the next title shot, and if that's the case Condit likely gets Jon Fitch. However, if Kampmann pulls off the upset I think we'll see Condit-Kampmann 2 and GSP-Fitch 2, if GSP gets past Josh Koscheck in December. That's probably how the division will shake out, but Condit made sure that he proved that he's worthy of belonging in that conversation.
RELATED STORY: UFC 120 RESULTS: Carlos Condit knocks out Dan Hardy in the first round in London: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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