Carlos Condit’s Return Is Flying Under The Radar

By Adam Martin

This Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 67, one of the best welterweight fighters in the world returns to the Octagon for the first time in over a year.

Carlos Condit, the former UFC Interim Welterweight Champion, has not fought since a March 2014 loss to Tyron Woodley where he blew his knee out.

“The Natural Born Killer” has been on the mend since then, but now, 14 months later, he’s ready to return to the eight-sided cage, where he’ll take on fellow veteran welterweight Thiago Alves in what has all the makings of a “Fight of the Night” contender.

But despite being perennially ranked in the top five of the welterweight division, Condit’s return has flown under the radar. For such a great fighter, I don’t feel like Condit is getting his due. With so many events in recent weeks, including last week’s blockbuster UFC 187 event, it’s easy for a fighter to get lost in the shuffle. Condit, though? This is one of the most exciting fighters in the sport today. His return should be a big deal, but for some reason it’s just not getting the attention it deserves.

With 29 career victories, including 27 by way of stoppage, Condit is a finisher in every sense of the word, a constant fan favorite in the vein of Greg Jackson teammate Donald Cerrone, and quite simply one of the finest mixed martial artists in the history of the welterweight division. With wins over the likes of Rory MacDonald, Jake Ellenberger, Dong Hyun Kim, Dan Hardy, Martin Kampmann, and Nick Diaz, Condit’s resume is one of the best ever at 170 lbs. He’s a fantastic fighter who is always involved in great fights, and this matchup against a fellow striker in Alves should be nothing short of amazing when it goes down this weekend in Goiania, Brazil.

The fight will mark the first time in Condit’s 37-fight career that he will be fighting in Brazil, so perhaps that has something to do with why his return isn’t getting much love from the media and the fans. But considering this is a guy who has won “Fight of the Night” in three of his last four contests, and post-fight award bonuses in four of his last six fights, it’s just very strange that he isn’t getting more love.

Maybe some people are still upset about his UFC 143 bout against Diaz, a fight that wasn’t the most exciting. That fight clearly lost Condit some fans, even though he did what he needed to do to win and has since said he’d give Diaz a rematch. Posing the question on Twitter about the fans’ excitement levels for Condit’s return, the common response was either that they were super excited, or that they don’t care to see a guy “run” around for 25 minutes, which is pretty silly. But hey, the fans are the ones who decide who they want to get behind, and for many of them, the Diaz fight killed Condit’s appeal.

Me, personally, I couldn’t be more excited. I think Condit is an elite fighter, and anytime you can see an elite mixed martial artist perform inside the Octagon it’s a good thing. If you ask me, this is one of the most significant comebacks all year in MMA, because with a win over Alves, Condit would immediately vault back into the title picture, a place he hasn’t been in in three years, but a place he wants to be back in now that GSP is out of the picture.

It’s unfortunate there have been so many events as of late, because this fight between Condit and Alves has fireworks written all over it and should be nothing short of amazing, yet it has received barely any promotion from the UFC and any press from the media. But don’t let that stop you from enjoying it, because it should be an incredible bout, and when it’s all said and done, Condit could emerge as a top contender for the UFC welterweight crown once again.