A ‘Killer’ in Waiting

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The merry-go-round began in September, as the would-be welterweight title challenger relaxed at a popular New Mexican coffee shop.

It was then that Carlos Condit received the call from his manager informing him that he, not Nick Diaz, would challenge Georges St. Pierre for the 170-pound belt at UFC 137 in Las Vegas the next month. It must have made for an interesting scene -- at least for the fellow diners who recognized him -- when the man known as “The Natural Born Killer” got a little weepy at his table. The opportunity of a lifetime had arrived.

Five months removed from that day in the coffee shop, Condit will square off with Diaz for the interim welterweight championship in the UFC 143 main event on Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Same venue. Same city. Same stakes -- almost. Different month.

Condit was originally scheduled to face B.J. Penn at UFC 137, until Diaz inexplicably no-showed for two pre-fight press conferences to promote the Stockton, Calif., native’s showdown with St. Pierre. An enraged UFC President Dana White gave the shot to Condit and paired Penn with Diaz. The champion suffered a knee injury, however, and White promised to sit Condit until St. Pierre had healed. Diaz had other ideas, dominating Penn with his unorthodox boxing and then calling St. Pierre “scared” after his hand was raised. Upset by a perceived lack of respect, St. Pierre requested that he face Diaz upon returning to full health. The UFC obliged, announcing Condit had graciously stepped aside. Not exactly.

“The fact is, I didn’t have a choice,” Condit recalls. “The decision was made before they ever called me or my manager. We weren’t all that pleased with the situation, but it was out of our hands.”

Instead, Condit was eventually slotted opposite Josh Koscheck on the promotion’s traditional pre-Super Bowl card, with the promise that a victory would earn him the Diaz-St. Pierre winner. Of course, St. Pierre will not make it to the Octagon this weekend -- a torn knee ligament will likely shelve “Rush” until the end of 2012 or possibly later. When looking back on the chain of events that led him from Penn to St. Pierre to Koscheck and, finally, to Diaz, Condit is not especially bitter or angry.

“It’s been kind of crazy,” the Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts product says, “training for fights [but] not being able to fight. As crazy as it seems from an outside perspective, I’ve just been focusing on training and being prepared for whoever I end up fighting next.

“I would have loved to fight B.J.; I would have loved to have fought St. Pierre; I still want to fight Koscheck, and now I’m really stoked to be fighting Diaz,” he adds. “I’ve got to look on the bright side ... I did get to train and work on a lot of things that I needed improvement on.”

That, trainer Greg Jackson says, is typical Condit. The guy who shed a few tears of joy five months ago does not normally ride a continuous roller coaster of emotions.

“He’s such a pro; he’s an amazing guy,” Jackson says. “Anybody else would probably have been rattled, and I think Carlos has kept a real even keel about it because he’s a vet. He’s been here a bunch, so it’s nothing new for him.”

Actually, Condit has been a little bit of everywhere: Mexico for his professional debut in 2002, Hawaii for Rumble on the Rock bouts against the likes of Frank Trigg and Jake Shields, Japan for a brief stint in Pancrase, Canada for a career-defining comeback against Rory MacDonald at UFC 115 and England for his knockout of Dan Hardy at UFC 120. The native New Mexican has won 12 of his last 13 fights, and only one of those triumphs -- a split decision over Jake Ellenberger -- went the distance.

The last World Extreme Cagefighting 170-pound champion in the promotion’s history, Condit has accomplished plenty since he first showed up on the Albuquerque fight scene as a teen-ager.

“I remember when he was brand new at Jackson’s [old location],” says coach Chris Luttrell, the first person to earn a black belt under Jackson. “I got to roll with him and got to train with him throughout his career. It’s been a gift watching him grow and being along for the ride. I got to see him evolve over the years, get married and have a son. It’s extra special, and the big reason why is he's such a great guy: humble, quiet and reserved.”

When Jackson decided to step aside rather than corner either of his charges in the proposed Condit-St. Pierre bout, Luttrell, along with striking coach Mike Winkeljohn, assumed added responsibilities. With St. Pierre out of the picture for the time being, Jackson is back on board as the head of the camp. All the fight-card turmoil has kept Condit out of action since UFC 132, when he cemented his status as a top contender with a technical knockout of Dong Hyun Kim. Despite the downtime, Condit has remained focused.

“It's hard to really remain mentally strong despite the peaks and valleys -- a fight coming up and a fight dropping,” Luttrell says. “We had to alter the game plan a bit, but he looks at it, like, ‘I’m in that much better shape, that much stronger. I don’t think a lot of fighters could do what he’s done.”

Stylistically, Diaz could be a better matchup for Condit. The Cesar Gracie pupil’s aggressive standup is a sharp contrast to St. Pierre’s takedown-heavy approach.

“I’ve been watching his fights,’ Condit says. “He’s a very exciting fighter, and he’s been getting a lot better over the years. What he lacks in some of his technique he makes up for in just overwhelming pace and tenacity, which parallels some of my fighting style.”

Diaz’s path also mirrors Condit’s in that both men experienced significant growth outside of the UFC. Diaz left the promotion in 2006, with talented wrestlers as his greatest nemesis. He evolved in Strikeforce, however, capturing the promotion’s welterweight crown in 2010 while daring foes to take him to the ground and test his active guard.

“He’s one of the best in the world. It’s gonna be a real challenge for us,” says Jackson, who cornered Diego Sanchez against Diaz at “The Ultimate Fighter 2” Finale in 2005.

Meanwhile, Condit recognizes the value of his tenure in the WEC. Given the chance to bolt before the welterweight division dissolved, he chose to stay put.

“Having the chance to go in the WEC and fight the guys that I fought, train specific disciplines that I did to fight those opponents and defend the belt shored up some holes that I had in my game,” Condit says. “Not only on the technical side and the fighting side but in getting a little bit of exposure to the whole media and promotion part of the business without getting thrown straight into it in the big way the UFC does. Being able to condition myself to that a little bit and get ready for what I’m doing now was a big help.”

While Diaz made a big splash in his UFC return by beating Penn, Condit learned a harsh lesson in his first Octagon outing -- a hotly contested split decision loss to Martin Kampmann. It was one of the rare times the “Natural Born Killer” did not live up to his nickname.

“I felt like I won the first two rounds, and that third round I felt like I could just cruise. I learned a big lesson. No matter what, no matter whether you feel like you’re up on the scorecards or you’re down on the scorecards, you need to be trying to finish at all times,” he says. "I still had gas in the third. I could have done more. I could have pulled it out and pulled out my first UFC win in my first UFC fight.”

That sense of urgency has been evident in his last three bouts: stoppages of MacDonald, Hardy and Kim. Diaz, whose ability to absorb punishment allows him to attack opponents aggressively, will require patience, as well.

“You’ve got to be very disciplined and not waste all of your energy thinking that you’ve got him hurt and you’re going to finish him right away,” Luttrell says.

At UFC 141, Donald Cerrone was drawn into exactly the type of firefight against Nate Diaz that Luttrell hopes Condit can avoid.

“Don’t buy into the machismo that the Diaz brothers [use] to try to draw you into a war,” Luttrell says. “They try to draw you into an emotional battle where you’re gonna stand in front of them and you’re gonna show who has the better chin. To me, that’s ridiculous. MMA is so much more involved than standing in front of each other swinging. We’re gonna have [Condit] multi-faceted using all of his different tools, and I believe he’s disciplined enough to do that.”

Condit is confident he can weather the inevitable storm that arrives when facing Diaz -- and then some.

“What rattles a lot of guys mentally is hitting Diaz with your hardest shot, him just walking through it and continuing to swarm on you,” he says. “That’s something that we’re preparing for physically with our conditioning and something that I’ve been preparing for mentally. He takes a lot of damage, but I’m ready to put more damage on him than the referee’s gonna let him take.”

As frustrating as the past few months have been, Condit does not see much changing for him if he beats Diaz. Eventually, a healthy St. Pierre will await him.

“I still feel that Georges St. Pierre is the champion and will remain the champion until beaten,” he says. “He’s been such a dominant champion in the welterweight division that until somebody beats him and takes his title, he remains the champion.”