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Will Carlos Condit bounce back into title contention, or are the consecutive losses to GSP and Hendricks insurmountable?
RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
I don't see how losing to the champ and the #1 contender can be a long-term pox on one's house, ya dig? Not to mention that he's the only guy to give St-Pierre a fight since Matt Serra flash KO'd the champ in 1941, and strong arguments can be made that he beat Hendricks. But still, a loss is a loss (and two losses are two losses. No, really), so Condit's going to need to win at least two fights in a row over top guys (so that disqualifies a Nick Diaz rematch, flame away). If Condit wants to get another title shot, a win over Rory MacDonald again (who has beaten exactly nobody in (or near) the top 10) would be a good start. Then a win over someone like Demian Maia, Jake Ellenberger again, or Martin Kampmann again might be enough.
And yeah, lest we forget that Carlos Condit is in fact Stupendous Man, he does have UFC wins over MacDonald, Ellenberger, and Kampmann, not to mention his wonderful KOs over Kim and Hardy (sounds like a bad law firm, doesn't it?).
FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
I think Condit will definitely bounce back from this. I think the UFC should put together a rematch with Nick Diaz for him, or perhaps a fight against Rory MacDonald. A few more good wins and Condit is back to possibly being a title contender again. It's not like he's lost to bums in these fights, he lost to the current champ and the current number one contender.
TONY BECERRA, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Carlos Condit is a top five welterweight depending on who you ask and for that reason I definitely think he will bounce back. He didn't get dominated against Hendricks, in fact at one point in the fight it could have gone either way. I think for Condit a fight against Rory McDonald will be good or a rematch with Nick Diaz.
ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
If it were another fighter, it might be too much to overcome. He is one of the best and he is still young. He has not taken too much punishment inside the cage. He trains with Greg Jackson and that in and of itself is enough for me to think he can and will challenge for a title in the next year or two.
BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
He certainly can, he gave a hell of a fight to Johny Hendricks and he can do so to anyone in the weight class without question. He should be battling Ellenberger or McDonald next to see who gets a shot after Hendricks and GSP fight. Carlos is a never say die kind of guy and I expect we will see even more of that going forward.
DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR
He is still great to watch and over the past couple of years I've become a huge fan of Condit. His biggest problem is the fact he seems to have no wrestling skills whatsoever, and both GSP and Hendricks took him down with significant ease.
He didn't help himself this weekend and some of his standing offense presented easy takedown opportunities for Hendricks that he duly took full advantage of. Despite this, he was extremely active off his back and some would argue he was actually unlucky not to take a split decision. I don't necessarily agree to go that far, but it was very close. You don't win fights that go the distance anymore, however active you are fighting off your back.
If he manages to improve both his wrestling offense and defense, he has a chance at redemption. If he doesn't and he faces someone like Rory MacDonald next, the same outcome will happen again leaving him on a three fight losing streak. It's his achilles heel and with so many world class wrestlers in the division, it might be wise of him to make drastic changes before it's too late. If he doesn't, he'll never be a UFC champion.
[Carlos Condit art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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