Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: The Aftermath of Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz
Feb 8, 2012 - 10:00:15 AM HYDEN BLOG: The Aftermath of Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

Nick Diaz lost a decision to Carlos Condit at UFC 143 last Saturday. Diaz was definitely the aggressor, but Condit kept circling away and peppering Diaz with kicks and punches. Condit outstruck Diaz, which might be a bit surprising considering that Condit fought most of the time going backwards.

I wrote last week that numbers can, and often do, lie. Some people told me that was a little vague. What I mean by that is that sometimes numbers can give you misleading information. An example is, I hit you with 10 power punches to the chin. They hurt, but you can continue fighting with little trouble. You hit me with 1 big punch that breaks my nose. By the numbers, I have the clear advantage 10-1 in terms of punches. However, your 1 punch did more lasting damage to me than my 10 punches did to you.

Another example is with takedowns. I try for five takedowns, succeeding on three. I'm not able to do much while I've got you down, though, and you quickly work your way back to your feet. You try three takedowns, succeeding on one, but your takedown leads to you keeping me on the ground for a couple of minutes. I got more takedowns, and had a much higher success rate, but your takedown was more effective.

Of course, there are more moving parts in a fight than what I've outlined above, but my point is that you can't always go just by numbers. There's a human element involved, and that's why I've argued for set criteria when it comes to judging. Even if you disagree with the way points are awarded, you can set your gameplan to try to counter that. As it stands now, judging is very nebulous in terms of what a fighter needs to do to win. There will always be human error, but we need to remove as many judgement calls as possible.

I've gone down this road numerous times before and it's not really relevant to Diaz vs. Condit from UFC 143. I don't look at what happened as bad judging, I think it was a case of Condit not getting baited into Diaz's gameplan. It was a smart strategy. You can also look at the face of Nick Diaz and see that it wasn't as though Carlos Condit was throwing love taps at him. His face didn't look like raw hamburger meat, but Nick's face showed that he was in a fight. I know you can't always go by what the face looks like, but it does show that there was damage done.

I've always been of the mindset that titles should never be won or lost by decision. I know that's not very realistic, but it would sure eliminate situations like this. It would also eliminate fights where one guy is just trying to outpoint the other. I'm not a big fan of those types of fights, and it does affect a guy's standing in the eyes of fans. Even a guy like Georges St-Pierre, who has dominated all his opponents recently, has his standing affected by his inability to finish his opponents.

I've seen a couple of people ask who is the number one fighter, according to MMATorch. I speak for no one but myself, but my answer is obvious. To me, Anderson Silva is the unquestioned number one fighter in MMA. His run of excellence is unequalled by anyone in the history of MMA. The only other guy I would put in that category would be Fedor Emelianenko for his historic run during the first decade of the 2000's.

Silva is number one, and then there's a two-way tie for second place between GSP and Jon Jones. The reason for the tie is that GSP is a victim of his own greatness. GSP had dominated everyone he's fought recently, routinely winning decisions by a score of 50-45, and even some 50-44 scores. The issue becomes that if GSP can dominate a guy so badly, why can't he finish anyone? GSP has set the bar so high for himself that he gets deducted points if he can't finish anyone. This is the same issue that Tiger Woods used to have to deal with in golf, or Michael Jordan in basketball. It's the same way that people are dissing Tom Brady for losing in the Super Bowl. Newsflash, one guy (Troy Aikman) has the same amount of rings as Brady, and only two guys (Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana) have more. Brady is one of only four guys to have won three or more Super Bowls. And just to be clear, I hate the Patriots, but you have to give respect where it's due.

That just illustrates the high standards that elite athletes have to live up to. GSP is doing things that very few have ever even thought of doing, but the fact is, not being able to finish anyone deducts from his resume. Circling back from another patented Hyden sidebar, I wish all title fights would never go to decision. That's not going to happen, though, so we all have to live with situations like this.

I thought Condit won the fight, but you could possibly make a case for Diaz having won three of the five rounds. There's no case to be made for Diaz being robbed, though. You know what helps you to not get robbed? Finishing the fight. During the post-fight interview Diaz said that if he thought he was behind on the cards, he would have finished Condit with that armbar. What sense does that make? If you could have grabbed that armbar and finished the fight, why didn't you?

The talk of retiring is ridiculous as well. If Nick wants to retire, do it, the world will continue. This is as petulant as when James Harrison from the Pittsburgh Steelers threatened to retire because the NFL was punishing him for being a dirty player. If you want to take your ball and go home, do it. Just like the NFL would continue without Harrison, the UFC will continue without Diaz. No one is bigger than the UFC. If Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, and Jon Jones all retired tomorrow, the UFC would live on. No one is bigger than the sport. Every fighter and personality (Dana White, Mike Goldberg, Joe Rogan, etc.) is one piece of the puzzle. The puzzle can still be completed even with missing pieces. The world will go on without you.

The news came out last night that a rematch between Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz will happen while Georges St-Pierre continues to recover. I'm all for that, and I hope it happens as quickly as possible. It's not like there's anyone else who's more deserving of a title shot, and I would rather not wait for GSP to heal fully as that might be a while. No need to rush GSP back when you have a great rematch lying in wait.


Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com