Featured | Written by: Adam Conklin | Published in: Fighters
Carlos Condit comes from arguably the best gym in the country, Jackson's. At this gym, head trainers Greg Jackson and Mike Winklejohn specialize in coming up with the best game plan for their fighters to triumph over their opponents.
Jackson's has helped mold some of the best fighters in the world such as George St. Pierre, Carlos Condit, Clay Guida, Jon Jones, and Rashad Evans. This is but a handful of the fighters that this magnificent gym has turned out.
For this article, however, I will focus on the game plan that was used to perfection to bring Carlos Condit to a victory over Nick Diaz last Saturday at UFC 143.
Nick Diaz is a grinder just like that of Jon Fitch. Instead of taking the fight to the ground, however, Diaz uses his superior boxing and unending stamina to beat his opponents will until there is none left.
To combat this, Condit worked a lot on his lateral movement. It seemed as though he would block and counter while moving backwards until he felt his back touch cage. Once it did. Condit would drop his head dramatically, sway to the left and turn his whole body to the left to complete the move.
This move ensured that Condit wouldn't get trapped up against the fence just to become a punching bag. This move worked tremendously and helped Condit avoid any real damage.
On the offensive, Condit would mix strikes with either hand or foot to keep Diaz guessing. He threw kicks to keep distance as well as close it if throwing a combination. Condit performed this plan to perfection and came away, in my eyes at least, the winner. Going into the fifth round, I had Condit up 3-1 with Diaz needing a finish to win the fight.
Since the decision was read, the debating hasn't stopped. There is a clear line between those who think Diaz won and those who believe Condit was the victor. Those on the side of Diaz believe that Condit simply ran from Diaz and avoided exchanging with him. They think that Diaz was in control of the Octagon and forced Condit back.
The reality is quite the opposite. Condit was pulling Diaz in to make him feel comfortable just to counter and capitalize on Diaz's aggressiveness. Condit did the best thing to defeat Diaz. It was a perfectly drawn up blueprint to derail Diaz's title shot freight train. People were wrong to underestimate Condit and are now mad with the result. Condit was clearly the better fighter that night and to suggest a bad decision or demand a rematch is an insult. A close decision, surely, but the right decision.
Condit will do big things in 2012 starting with what will surely be an all out war of technique when he fights Georges St. Pierre to unify the welterweight belt.
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February 10, 2012
